Evolution XMJ
by Red Witch
Summary: Once again the XMen and Misfits are forced to deal with life changing missions, new friends and enemies, old friends and enemies, a powerful cosmic force and the occasional insane fiasco.
1. It Begins Again

**The disclaimer telling you that I don't own any X-Men Evolution Characters or GI Joe characters or anyone else has taken off. Yup this is another long fic that will just go any way I feel like it. Here we go again. You think I would have learned my lesson from the last time. Nope. I haven't. So what do you call a crazy fic with X-Men Evolution Characters, Misfits, Joes and absolutely no direction? You call it…**

**Evolution XMJ**

**Chapter 1: It Begins Again**

To say the week had already been hectic for the X-Men and Misfits was the understatement of the year. But when Doug Ramsey appeared on the Institute doorstep two days after the attack of the Acolytes it started a chain of events that really made things insane.

"Doug! What are **you **doing here?" Kitty gasped at the sight of her friend all battered and bruised.

"Hey Kitty," Doug made a slight grin. "Is Professor Xavier in? I'd like to join the X-Men."

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"Are you telling me Magneto now may already have the plans for **another **Bio Pulse?" Xavier asked.

"If not all the plans at the very least some of them," Doug sighed. "I don't know who his spy was. I kind of left before we figured it out." He was in the mission briefing room with Logan, Scott, Remy, Kitty, Jean, Kurt, Bobby, Rogue, Hank and Peter.

"Well between that and Legion's attack on SHEILD if he didn't before he must have them now," Scott said.

"Not only that, the Hellfire Club is planning on using their own updated Bio Pulse within a year," Doug added.

"Are you sure?" Logan asked.

"Positive," Doug told him. "This is all my fault! I helped the Beta team do research on that and tons of other stuff. Who knows what **else **they're doing with what I found?"

"Don't blame yourself Douglas," Xavier put a hand on his arm. "You didn't know you were being used."

"Yeah but you think a guy like me would have been smart enough to figure it out," Doug sighed. "If Spyke hadn't let me get away…"

"Spyke? You mean the Porcupine…?" Logan started to say. Xavier held his arm to let Doug continue.

"When I ran off the Hellions were sent to either bring me back or…" Doug paused. "To be honest I'm not sure **why** he let me go, but he kind of helped fake my death in order to throw 'em off the trail."

"We can continue this discussion later. Kitty, why don't you show Douglas upstairs and find him some spare clothes?" Xavier asked. "Then we can phone your family and let them know where you are."

"That could be a problem. My parents don't know I'm a mutant," Doug sighed. "I'm not looking forward to **that **conversation."

"Well maybe they'll take it well?" Kitty asked.

"I doubt it. They want me to be perfect like Uncle Donald," Doug sighed. "Mister All American Banker."

"Perfect?" Scott spat out his drink. "You don't know that…?"

"Uh, Scott I think you'd better let me tell him," Kitty interrupted.

"Tell me what?" Doug was puzzled.

"You haven't seen your uncle in a while have you?" Kitty led him out. "Doug, I think you'd better prepare yourself for a shock." The door closed behind them.

"Well this confirms what we already know and worse," Logan said. "If the kid's telling the truth both the Hellfire Club and Magneto are planning the same thing."

"He's not lying," Xavier told him. "And Evan really did help him to escape."

"Then maybe Evan's not…" Kurt began.

"Not **what?** Not a traitor?" Scott snapped at him. "Not responsible for the deaths of a lot of people? AndTabitha was nearly one of them? I don't buy it!"

"Doug's not lying, Scott," Jean said.

"I didn't say **Doug **was," Scott corrected her. "Look, maybe Evan did have some flash of conscience or something and let him go. But that doesn't excuse what he's done in the past. And from what Cypher's told us he's actually going along with this plan of the Hellfire Club. He's still a bad guy Kurt and one good deed doesn't…"

"MY UNCLE IS GAY?" Doug could be heard screaming. "AND HE'S DATING WHO?"

"Just what we need around here," Logan groaned. "Another student with issues."

"To be fair he has had a rough couple of days," Hank pointed out.

"And we **haven't?**" Bobby asked. "Maybe he can help us identify who's in the Hellfire Club."

"Of course he can, that's why they want him so bad," Scott said.

"You know sooner or later they're gonna figure out the kid's here," Logan said. "They may try an attack of some kind."

"I'm afraid that is a very real possibility," Xavier frowned.

"But we can't just kick him out or anything," Rogue said.

"We're not, we're just saying the kid knows too much for the Hellfire Club to just up and let us…" Logan began.

A loud explosion could be heard from outside and the alarms sounded. "We're under attack!" Jean said.

"Either that or the Misfits are visiting," Scott grumbled as they raced outside for battle. "I hope it's an attack. Please let it be another attack…"

Instantly Todd tackled him. "We're ba-ack!" Todd said cheerfully. "Miss us?"

"Like I miss my wisdom teeth…" Rogue moaned as the Misfits appeared on their front lawn.

"God why couldn't it have been an attack?" Scott moaned. "Toad get off me!"

"What did you blow up **now**?" Logan moaned.

Trinity pointed to a smoking pile of metal that was formerly a laser that was part of the mansion's defense system. "Accident…" The girls said innocently.

"You decided to play around with our defense systems again didn't you?" Jean moaned.

"Maybe…" Daria whistled.

"So what's new?" Pietro asked. He caught sight of Doug in the back. "Hey! Wasn't this guy with the Hellions?" He ran up to him.

"Not anymore," Kitty said. "Doug defected."

"Well I always said any X-Geek was a defect," Pietro grinned. He dodged Kitty's swipe. "Still too slow Kitty cat!"

"Ignore him," Wanda said. "We all do."

"Cypher you might as well find out right now what you're in for," Scott said. "Meet the Misfits."

"Charmed I'm sure," Pietro shook Doug's hand. "Even though we've met before might as well introduce ourselves!"

"Like anybody could forget **you**!" Angelica groaned. "And I don't mean that in a good way!"

"Uh, are those guys part of your team too?" Doug pointed behind him.

"No…" Althea noticed a group of mutants appearing on the Institute front lawn. "Not that I know of…"

"**Now** who's showing up at our door?" Scott asked.

"If that don't beat all…" Logan shot out his claws when he saw who they were. "I thought we'd seen the last of these jokers!"

"What are **they** doing here?" Rogue shouted.

"Uh hi guys," Morph gulped as the Exiles walked up to them. "We really need to talk."

"What? You here to trash our mansion and start another riot again?" Scott snapped.

"You want me to tie you up with your car again?" Magnus asked.

"Enough!" A seventh figure moved through them. "Charles I know this sounds odd but we really need your help."

"Magneto…" Xavier frowned.

**Now things are gonna get a little bit weird…**


	2. Meet Your Alternates

**Meet Your Alternates**

"I knew it!" Scott readied his visor. "These jerks are working for Magneto!"

"Not exactly…" Magnus groaned.

"Here we go again…" Blink groaned.

"Hold it!" Logan took a sniff. "This guy ain't **our **Magneto! It's a different one! I know that scent! You're…"

"Yes, the Magneto you encountered when you visited our dimension," Magneto said. "Right after you escaped from Mojo." **&**

"Oh yeah," Pietro said. "Now I remember you. You're the good one."

"There's a contradiction in terms," Scott folded his arms. "Now who the hell are all you people?"

"We're the Exiles,"Mimic explained. "A team of mutants and altered humans from different realties put together to fix things that go wrong by a being called the Timekeeper."

"Actually there's more than one Timekeeper," Nocturne explained. "And more than one group of Exiles that are us but aren't us. Some are good and some are bad and not all of them know that the others exist. It's kind of confusing."

"I'll say," Todd blinked.

"You can read our minds if you wish," The Alternate Magneto took off his helmet. "We are telling the truth."

"I believe you…" Xavier caught their thoughts. "But what is all of this? Why are you here?"

"I'm here to help retrieve a mutant thrown out of time and to bring her back to my reality for a while to rehabilitate her," Magneto said. "Even though this one is from your future alternate reality."

"Or possible future reality, depending on things in the present," Sunfire added.

"See when Bishop came back to this time and prevented the assassination of Kelly, he kind of made things wonky in your future," Morph said.

"Wonky?" Lance asked. "Define Wonky?"

"Uh, it may or may not exist anymore," Nocturnesaid. "It's kind of in flux."

"You know how things you see far away are kind of blurry?" Blink asked. "That's pretty much what's happening in your future. Long story short, someone who wasn't supposed escape from that timeline did."

"How?" Jean asked.

"She tapped into her darkest power at the very last second her reality warped and used the power inherited from her mother to fall into your timeline,"Sunfire turned to her fellow Exile. "Blink show 'em."

"All right," Blink activated her Tallus. It showed a picture of a shorthaired red haired girl that looked like she was on fire. There were black tattoo marks on her face and she was wearing some kind of red outfit that looked like it was on fire as well.

"She looks so angry," Kitty noticed.

"You'd be angry too if you had her tragic past," Magnus said.

"Who is she?" Jean asked.

"Her name is Rachel Summers," Magneto explained. "She's your daughter Scott and Jean…"

"WHAT?" Scott and Jean shouted.

"Yeah, here's where it gets kind of weird," Morph told them.

"She was the only survivor of a Sentinel Attack at the X-Mansion," Blink told them. She showed them images of Rachel's past on the Tallus. "You and Scott were the first casualties. She saw you both die before her eyes before she was captured. At age five she was trained to be a Hound. A psychic mutant brainwashed into hunting other mutants. When she turned fifteen she managed to break free of her programming only to be thrown into a concentration camp."

"The poor child has suffered unimaginable horrors," Magneto said softly. "The latest events have thrown her mind into turmoil. When Bishop went back to your time, she and a group of other mutants escaped and attacked the Mastermold unit in order to prevent other Sentinels from following him to this timeline. Again she was the only survivor. During the battle her true power emerged."

"And that's when everything went wonky?" Althea asked.

"Bingo," Morph said.

"So where is she now?" Jean asked.

"She's going to appear somewhere in downtown Bayville if she hasn't already," Blink explained. "Our job is to get her before she goes nuts. And I don't mean the good kind of nuts, I'm talking about turning all of New York into a pothole nuts. And I mean the state of New York, not just the city."

"She's **that** powerful?" Xavier gasped.

"Yeah and she only has a fraction of her mom's power," Morph said. "A power you haven't developed yet Jean."

"What do you mean?" Jean asked. Xavier looked a little uncomfortable.

"Let's just say you have potential that you have not even dreamed of yet," Magneto told her. "Potential you are not ready to explore just yet."

"And yet with all this power my older self couldn't…" Jean began.

"You had…Will have…Problems with this power," Magneto said. "That's all we can say for now."

"I see…" Jean frowned. "I guess I can understand that."

"So if Jean couldn't handle this power as an adult," Althea thought. "An emotionally disturbed severely traumatized teenager…"

"Is a formula for disaster," Mimic told them. "That's why we need all the help we can get."

"I'd better get on Cerebro," Xavier nodded.

"By the way, what happened here?"Sunfire asked as he noticed that the Institute was in disarray.

"Today or recently?" Scott groaned.

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"Let me get this straight…" Kurt blinked. "You're the daughter of me and the **Scarlet Witch?**"

"Yeah…"Nocturne nodded.

"Whoa…" Kitty blinked. "That is like totally weird."

"It gets weirder…"Sunfire told them. Some of the Exiles, X-Men and Misfits were in the kitchen. "You don't know who Magnus' parents are."

"THAT IS THE MOST DISGUSTING THING I HAVE EVER HEARD IN MY LIFE!" Rogue could be heard screaming from the next room.

"Hey guys!" Todd hopped in. "Guess who Rogue's shacked up with in another reality?"

"NOT ONE WORD WART BOY!" Rogue stormed in after him. She began to chase him around the kitchen. "YOU SAY ONE WORD AND YOU ARE DEAD! DEAD! DEAD!"

"Rogue and her daddy sitting in a tree…" Todd laughed. "K-I-S-S-I-N-OWWWWW!" Rogue managed to grab a pot and flung it at the back of his head, knocking him flat onto the floor. "Ow..."

"What did he mean by that?" Kitty asked Rogue. "Wait don't tell me Rogue and…"

"Don't say it!" Rogue snapped. "I've got enough problems with my family in **this **reality! Let alone any others!"

Morph walked in with Magnus. "I guess you told them your parents are Rogue and Magneto huh?" Morph asked Magnus.

"What?" Lance nearly choked.

"Ewww…" Kitty winced. "That is so gross."

"They aren't related in my reality!" Magnus grumbled.

"Neither are Nightcrawler and the Scarlet Witch, my parents,"Nocturne said.

"So you're the Elf's and Wanda's kid," Todd thought. "We gotta track down Summers and Grey's kid who's all powerful and nuts. And you're…" He looked at Magnus.

"We all know by now whose kid he is!" Remy snapped. He glared at Rogue.

"WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT **ME** FOR?" Rogue snapped at him. "This wasn't **my** idea!"

"I can just **feel** the love," Magnus grunted.

"It's just weird that's all," Todd shrugged.

"I wonder what our kids would be like, Kitty?" Lance thought aloud.

"If they're anything like their father they'd probably be spending a lot of time in Juvenile Hall…" Peter grumbled.

"You mean you and **Avalanche** are dating?"Nocturne looked at Lance and Kitty.

"Well that's a new one," Morph said. "I mean I would expect Kitty to be with Colossus. She usually is."

"What?" Kitty looked at him.

"WHAT?" Lance gasped.

"Really?" Peter looked hopeful. "I mean that's very interesting."

"Yeah well…" Lance was taken aback. "Those are other realities. I'm sure you and I got together in a few of them."

"No," Morph nodded. "Just this one."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE AREN'T ANY REALITIES WHERE ME AND KITTY ARE TOGETHER?" Lance grabbed Morph by the collar and throttled him. "THERE HAS TO BE AT LEAST **ONE!**"

"Lance quit it!" Kitty tried to pull him off. "You don't have to hurt him."

"It's not my fault!" Morph explained. "There've been a few where Kitty was with Kurt, Scott and Pietro but…"

"WHAT?" Kitty then began to throttle him. "YOU'D BETTER BE LYING ABOUT THAT! ESPECIALLY ABOUT PIETRO!"

"Well there is one where you hook up with a few other guys you haven't met," Morph gasped. "And then there's one you go with Rogue and in one case..."

"SHUT UP!" Kitty continued to pummel him. "JUST SHUT UP!"

"Kitty no!" Rogue said pushingKitty aside and throttling Morph. "I wanna kill him!"

"Next thing he'll be telling us is that I got together with Toad!" Kitty screamed.

"No...but in one reality Kurt did and...AAGGGH!" Morph gasped. "Please don't kill me Rogue!"

"I think I've just learned the reason why it's **not **a good idea for people to jump between alternate realities," Kurt moaned.

"Tell me about it," Magnus groaned.

Meanwhile Scott and Jean had overheard the whole thing and were quietly sneaking away. "Do you really want to know about those other realties where we hook up with other people?" Jean asked.

"I'm barely getting my head around our own reality! Hard to imagine we have a sixteen year old kid who hasn't even been born yet," Scott grumbled. He then noticed the look on Jean's face. "Are you okay?"

"Not really," Jean said. "I mean it's not just this whole thing about having a daughter I may never know that's bothering me. It's the fact that I may have this power inside me…And the Professor knows about it."

"What?" Scott asked.

"I sensed it when the Exiles were telling us about Rachel and mentioned that her power came from me," Jean admitted. "The Professor…He wasn't happy about it. I don't think he ever wanted me to know about it."

"Well…" Scott hesitated. "I'm not saying if the Professor is holding out on you but if he did maybe he had a good reason too. I mean from what the Exiles told us this power isn't exactly something to sneeze at. I mean if this power is strong enough to freak out guys from other dimensions…"

"Which is all the more reason why I should **know** about it!" Jean snapped. "I mean this isn't the first time the Professor has kept secrets from us! It's almost like he deliberately wants us to be as close to danger as possible! Like he gets some kind of thrill tempting fate!"

"Oh come on Jean you don't seriously believe…" Scott began.

"Scott open your eyes! Don't get me wrong, I love the Professor but there are times he treats us as if we were still kids with no control over our powers!" Jean snapped.

"I guess compared to him we are kids," Scott shrugged.

"That's no excuse."

"I didn't say it was," Scott said putting his hands on her shoulders. "Look, I'm not exactly thrilled about all this either but now isn't the time to worry about it. Right now there's a scared girl out there who probably is our daughter, and she needs our help."

"You're right," Jean sighed. "She does come first. It just unnerves me to think…To think all of this…all of us could be destroyed. And we could fail to protect our only daughter from a life of…" She shuddered.

"Maybe, but the future's not written in stone," Scott held her. "At least now we do know that an attack like that could happen. Maybe by knowing it we can prepare and it might be enough to change the future."

"BOBBY? WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN I'M DATING BOBBY IN ANOTHER REALITY! COME BACK HERE!" Rogue chased Morph around with Kitty and Lance. "AND I KNOW KITTY WOULD NEVER DATE BOBBY ALSO!"

"YOU GOT THAT RIGHT! " Kitty screamed."AND FORGET ABOUT ME BEING WITH ROGUE!"

"ROGUE SMOGUE! WHAT'S THIS GARBAGE ABOUT ME AND SUMMERS?" Lance screamed. "YOU ARE GOING TO DIE! DIE I TELL YOU!"

"Did he just say…?" Jean blanched.

"Don't wanna know…Don't wanna know…" Scott felt very ill.

"Oh I am so glad I got here just in time for all of **this**," Doug moaned as he watched them run by.

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"So how bad is it here?" The Alternate Magneto asked Xavier as he searched on Cerebro.

"We've temporarily defeated the Mutant Registration Bill and now we have a Mutant Congressman openly fighting it," Xavier was informing him of the events of his dimension. "In a way Stryker Sunday helped mutants to a degree."

"Hmmm…Artificially enhancing mutant genes," Magneto thought. "It sounds like something I would have done back in the old days."

"Your counterpart is planning on doing it here," Xavier said. "Along with the Hellfire club."

"They're working together?"

"No separately," Xavier sighed. "However there is a downside, people are frightened and already new calls for registration are being made. So far I'm pretty sure Congress won't call for formal registration at least until the end of this year."

"Formal registration?"

"The government and SHEILDare making private, secret files on any and all mutants they can find," Xavier admitted. "In the interests of national security."

"So the only reason the government isn't pushing harder for registration is the fact that they are already secretly registering mutants," Magneto frowned. "So if the bill passes or not it doesn't matter."

"Yes it's a double edged sword," Xavier sighed. "Technically mutants that try to hide their abilities won't be breaking the law but…"

"But the government can track them anyway without reproach," Magneto frowned. "Even make them 'disappear' if they have to. And I thought the leaders in my world were diabolical."

"That's why we've found it's helpful to have some allies," Xavier told him.

"Like GI Joe?" Magneto asked. "I find it hard to trust any humans but I suppose you know what you're doing."

"You'd be surprised at what we can do," General Hawk walked into Cerebro. "General Hawk, GI Joe."

"How did you…? Oh wait the teleportation device," Magneto frowned. "I assume Wavedancer informed you I was here."

"Good thing she did," Hawk told them. "Xavier did you know both SHEILD and the FBI are monitoring your home? Fortunately I was able to stop 'em from banging down the door."

"And how did you do that?" Magneto frowned.

"A very convincing cover story," Hawk said. "I told my superiors that you weren't the real Magneto. That you were actually a clone. Which in a way is true…"

"A clone…" Magneto looked at him. "You seriously expect me to believe that anyone would think Magneto has a **clone?**"

"Stranger things have happened," Hawk shrugged. "Told 'em Xi touched you and discovered the difference in your DNA. Xi can decipher DNA codes through touch by the way."

"A handy ability," Magneto nodded.

"Yeah so could you do everyone a favor and change your outfit while you're here?" Hawk pointed to his uniform.

"I suppose it would get a bit confusing…" Magneto agreed.

"We have some spare uniforms if you like," Xavier said. "Wait…I'm sensing something…Oh no…She's **here!**"

**&: From the fic 'Just Another Week in the Lives of Mutants'. If you haven't read it or forgot please read it again! Next up, say hi to Mommy's little Firebird! **


	3. Little Lost Phoenix

**Little Lost Phoenix**

She woke up in the alley. It was cold and snowy but she did not feel the cold. Rachel looked around. There were buildings around her. "Where am I?" She stood up and started to walk around. Several dozen stray thoughts swirled around her as she walked out of the alley and looked at downtown Bayville. "This is…It can't be. It looks just like…like before…"

Her mind tried to remember things from before the Sentinels took over. There were some long forgotten snippets of memories of her going into town with her mother. She then remembered pictures from videos and books of how towns looked like before things changed. Before the Sentinels had enslaved the world. She walked down the street, oblivious to the looks people were giving her. It hadn't occurred to her that a girl with short red hair and four dark tattooed lines on her face wearing a studded red leather outfit and high heels was a bit conspicuous.

In fact it attracted some unwanted attention. "Hey, look what came from the circus," Duncan Matthews said to four of his cronies.

"Careful Dunc," One said. "That could be a mutie. I mean she looks like one."

"Even better," Duncan leered. He and his FOH pals followed her then surrounded her. "Well what do we have here? You look like some kind of mutie hooker."

"Hey I'll bet you could really get your freak on with her," One FOH follower snickered. He reached out to touch her.

Rachel could sense their perverted thoughts and grew very angry. She grabbed his arm. "Hands off!" She used her telekinesis to toss him into a wall. She then raised herself into the air and her body began to glow bright red.

"Uh oh…" Another FOH gulped. "This is not good!"

"It is a mutie freak!" Duncan went to punch her, but Rachel used her telekinesis to hold him in the air.

"You are…" Rachel growled as her eyes changed color and looked like they were spewing fire. "Beneath me…"

"You know you remind me a **lot** of someone I used to date," Duncan said. Then Rachel telekinetically threw him across the street into some garbage cans. "YEOWWWW!"

"We gotta get that freak!" Another FOH idiot snapped.

"Just try it…" Rachel snarled as her rage returned.

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"I can't believe you made me wear this ridiculous thing," The Alternate Magneto grumbled as he looked at the black X-Man outfit he was wearing.

"You wanna be arrested as the most wanted mutant on the block?" Logan snapped as he parked the X-Van. Ororo, Hank, Xavier, Jean, Scott and Rogue were with them.

"It might be a good idea to give you an alias as well," Hank remarked as they exited it.

"We could call him Metal Man," Morph suggested. The Exiles and the Misfits had followed the X-Men in the van in other vehicles.

"That makes him sound like Colossus yo," Todd said. "How about Magnar, Lord of Steel?"

"Sounds like a bad cartoon to me," Lance said. "How about Magnus?"

"You can't call **him **Magnus! I'm **Magnus!**" Magnus snapped.

"Oh yeah," Fred scratched his head. "How about Magnus II?"

"Great make him sound like a sequel!" Pietro threw up his hands.

"As long as I don't have to call him Father I don't care what we call him," Wanda shrugged.

"Mr. Attractive?" Xi asked.

"That makes him sound totally gay yo!" Todd groaned.

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Sunfire bristled.

"Since I'm **not gay,** yes it does!" Alternate Magneto snapped. "Are they always like this?"

"No, sometimes they're worse," Jean sighed.

"Captain Amazing?" Fred asked.

"That is way too corny," Arcade. "How about Destructo?"

"You think **I'm **being corny?" Fred asked.

"Oh lord, I do not believe this…" Alternate Magneto winced in pain.

"Look it can't be that hard to give him a name," Althea said. "How about something more subtle? Maybe something like Samus or Sauron or some other fancy name?"

"Yeah something really cool," Arcade said. "I mean you can't call him Joe or something like that."

"Well the Joes call themselves Joe, or Joes…" Fred said. "There's nothing wrong with that."

"I didn't say that!" Arcade protested. "Just something fancier than that would work for him!"

"You're right," Pietro said. "He's definitely not a Joe."

"How about a Joseph?" Xi asked.

"Joseph," The Alternate Magneto sighed. "Fine, call me **that!** Anything! But can we get on with this now?"

"I believe the person we are searching for is over there," Hank pointed.

"Yeah I guess a chick wearing leather and on fire tossing around a bunch of FOH jerks in the middle of the street is a good clue," Todd blinked.

"YEARRRRGGHHH!" Duncan screamed as he was tossed into a wall.

"Well at least she's easy to find," Lance remarked.

"We have to stop her!" Xavier shouted.

"That's a plan," Morph said. "Any ideas how?"

"I don't know if we'll be much help yo," Todd noticed. "I mean she's doing a pretty good job of trashing the town. Look how she just sent those cars into the wall there!"

"Good thing there was no one in 'em!" Fred said. "But that's impressive how she got that water main to break and douse water all over those FOH people. Is that Duncan she's currently hosing?"

"Why am I not surprised?" Scott groaned. "We'll have to take her hard and fast."

"Wait!" Joseph said. "That might not be the best idea! Provoking her might make her even angrier! It might end up having her to cause real damage!"

"More than **this?**" Hank winced as a fire hydrant exploded as well as a few empty cars. More FOH came to fight Rachel only to be tossed aside or chased with several objects.

"So what do we do?" Lance asked. "Let her trash the town? Although personally I'm kind of sympathetic to that."

"I could fly up and try and touch her skin," Rogue said. "Drain some of that power."

"No that would make things even **worse**," Mimic said. "Trust me on this."

"Yeah when you tried that in three other dimensions, you blew up several cities and one continent," Morph told her. "Well not you specifically, the other you…Rogues…You know what I mean…"

"We should try to contact her using telepathy,"Mimic told them. He concentrated only to be thrown backwards into a wall. "She's…not listening."

"Maybe not to you…" Jean thought. She flew towards Rachel.

"Jean! Wait!" Xavier protested.

"Let her try Charles," Joseph said. "This may be our best chance."

"Rachel," Jean floated before her. "Rachel, please! Stop this!"

"You…You…" Rachel stopped. "You can't be…"

_You know who I am. Open your mind to mine. Let me help you…_Jean used her telepathy to link her mind with Rachel's.

"I think it's working," Scott said.

"Yeah Summers not as many cars are flying around," Pietro quipped.

"I'm going to help…" Xavier attempted his telepathy only to shout in pain. "She…shut me out!"

"Who Rachel?" Magnus asked.

"No…Jean…" Xavier blinked in astonishment. To his amazement Rachel powered down and fell unconscious. Jean caught her and brought her back to the others in her arms.

"She's quieted down," Jean told them.

"Well she's the only one," Wanda remarked as she pointed to the angry townspeople on the sidelines.

"Oh goody," Morph groaned. "I remember these happy people…"

"I'll take care of this,"Mimic closed his eyes and used his telepathy. Immediately everyone on the street stopped and stood still.

"What did you do?" Scott asked.

"I altered their memories,"Mimic told them. "They'll think these FOH jerks just got drunk and started a fight. And a water main broke."

"Is that a good idea?" Scott asked.

"You guys just had a few bad riots in this dimension,"Mimic looked at him. "Do you seriously want **another?**"

"He has a point," Xavier sighed. "I suggest we hurry back to the mansion."

"I have a faster mode of transportation," Blink grinned. "And now I can move your vehicles too. My powers have gotten a bit stronger lately."

Thanks to Blink they teleported away just minutes before several police cars showed up. "All right what happened now?" Officer Toody got out of the car.

"Uh…There was a fight…" One passerby blinked. "I think…"

"Yeah, those guys over there were fighting!" Another man shouted pointing at Duncan and his FOH buddies.

"Why am I not surprised," Groaned Toody. He walked over and grabbed Duncan and hauled him up. "All right you! You're coming to the station for disturbing the peace!"

"Hey aren't you Duncan Matthews?" Officer Muldoon asked.

"This…This isn't my fault!" Duncan shouted. "Mutants did this! I think…"

"Did anybody see any mutants here?" Toody shouted.

"As much as I'd love to blame 'em I didn't see any of 'em!" A woman shouted. "But I did see these bozos fighting!"

"These guys burned down my cousin's store and he don't even like mutants!" A man shouted.

"Yeah these idiots trashed our town along with the mutants!" Muldoon grumbled. "Friends of Humanity huh? With friends like you, who needs enemies!"

"But the mutants started this!" Duncan screamed as he was hauled away. "They must have done this!"

"Uh, Duncan you did throw the first punch," One FOH member muttered. "I think…"

"SHUT UP!" Duncan screamed as he was carted off to jail with the others.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"She seems to be responding to the treatment," Hank told Xavier and Joseph as Rachel lay on the medical table. "She's malnourished and has minor injuries but they'll heal in time."

"It's her psychological wounds that I am worried about," Xavier looked at her, then at Jean and Scott who were by her side. Rogue was there too assisting Hank.

"What's with those lines on her face?" Rogue asked as she put down some medical equipment.

"Those are marks they branded on her," Jean told her. "When they brainwashed her to…" She stiffed. "Let's just say it wasn't her choice."

"There are evidences of scars on her body as well," Hank said.

"Whipmarks mostly," Jean's face grew cold. "And trust me, that's not the worst of it. I went through her thoughts. She's been abused in every way possible."

"My god…" Scott shook his head.

"Take a good look at her," Joseph warned. "Should you fail this could be your future. And the future of all mutants like her."

"Not if I can help it," Jean growled.

"So what happens now?" Scott asked.

"Normally the Timebroker sends the Exiles off on another mission as soon as they have completed one," Joseph said. "I assume that is what they will do once they have returned me to my own dimension with Rachel."

"Normally yes," A figure materialized among them. "But this is a special case."

"Who are you?" Scott readied his visor.

"Easy Scott," Xavier motioned. "I take it you are the Mysterious Timebroker?"

"Yes I am. I'm afraid I need to ask you for a favor Professor X," Timebroker said. "A big one…"


	4. A Little Friendly Bonding

**A Little Friendly Bonding **

"So let me get this straight," Tabitha said. "Now not only do we have an ex-Hellion and a whole bunch of new students living here, we have Scott and Jean's future daughter from a possible timeline and bunch of other people from other dimensions including an alternate Magneto who we're saying is a clone but he's not."

"That's right," Rogue nodded. "To throw the FBI and the cops off the trail so they don't arrest him."

"Should work," Remy shrugged. "I mean we already got one clone living here. Who's gonna notice another?"

"So this alternate Magneto who we're all supposed to call Joseph and these Exile guys are living in the basement?" Tabitha was trying to get it straight.

"Well those were the rooms we had when the mansion blew up," Kurt said. "Good thing we not only kept them, we just made a few more."

"So why are they still in **this** dimension?" Tabitha asked. "I mean didn't they already finish their mission?"

"Yeah why?" Kurt asked.

"Their boss this Timebroker guy wants them to stay a while," Rogue told them. "I heard the whole thing. Says it's good for Rachel to rest a bit but I'm guessing there may be a few loose ends he want's 'em to tie up."

"Okay…" Tabitha shrugged. "Well it's official. We are the weirdest people on the planet."

"At least you're not the weirdest people in the universe," Sunfire said as she walked into the room with Nocturne and Blink.

"Yeah I think Morph and a few of his alternates have **that** title pretty much sewn up," Blink said.

"You haven't hung around with the Misfits yet," Rogue pointed out.

"Yahoo!" Pietro zoomed past them.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you exhibit A," Rogue gestured with her hand.

"What are the Misfits doing here now?" Kurt groaned.

"Oh just gracing you with our presence," Todd remarked as the other Misfits walked in.

"Couldn't you grace us with your departure instead?" Rogue snapped.

"We haven't had time to meet," Althea said to the Exiles.

"But we do have time to eat!" Fred grinned as he opened the fridge.

"You guys have definitely been hanging around with Roadblock too long," Kitty said as she and Doug walked into the kitchen.

"Hey! Cypher's here!" Todd waved. "Come join the party yo!"

"If you don't know already I'm Althea, codename Wavedancer," Althea waved.

"I think I remember your names," Doug thought. "You're Blob, Toad, Avalanche, Firestar, Dragonfly, Xi and…" He looked around. "Weren't there more of you?"

"Spyder's back home hanging out with Foresight," Lance told him as he grabbed some food from the cupboards. "Trinity, Wanda and Pietro are wandering around here someplace."

"And you guys are stealing our food again!" Rogue grabbed a cereal box out ofFred's hands.

"Well we're hungry!" Fred told her while munching on a block of cheese.

"GET YOUR OWN FOOD!" Tabitha snapped throwing a small time bomb into the fridge.

For once Fred used his brain and closed the door quickly, letting it blow up in there. Cautiously he opened up the smoking door. "Way to go Tabby! You blew up all our food!"

"Your food?" Rogue looked at him.

"There's still some cookies left in here," Todd said taking some out. "Wait Kitty didn't make these did she?"

"No, these actually smell like cookies," Xi sniffed and started to munch on them.

"Oh no you don't!" Remy tried to grab for the cookies. Xi tossed the container to Lance.

"I got it!" Lance grabbed it. "Here catch it Lina!" He tossed it to her.

And was intercepted by Nocturne. "Now I've got it!" She crowed. Then proceeded to munch on them.

"Not you too!" Rogue snapped.

"Yeah we were mooching off these guys first!" Todd said. Soon nearly everyone was chasing each other around trying to get the cookies.

Everyone except Doug and Kitty. "Is it always like this here?" Doug asked Kitty.

"Actually for us," Kitty sighed. "This is kind of quiet…"

"Geeze for a small group you guys are kind of rowdy," Doug blinked.

"Small group?" Kurt asked. Immediately the chaos stopped. "What do you mean?"

"Well back at the Massachusetts Academy there were a whole lot more of us," Doug explained. "So many that each group has to have their own dorm."

"How many more are we talking about?" Angelica asked.

"Well including the teachers and stuff there's about 150 of us," Doug said. "Give or take a few. But then again Ms. Frost said she was getting enough for a new squad before I left."

"One hundred…" Kitty blinked.

"And **fifty?**" Tabitha gasped. "How the heck could they have so many mutants?"

"They don't even have a Cerebro!" Remy said. "Do they?"

"No, but the Hellfire club does have a lot of contacts from all over the world," Doug said. "The school has been operating in secret for over fifteen years. During that time they've built up a large network. And nearly all of their graduates have gone on to work for the Hellfire Club and their companies in one way or another. And some of them are psychics."

"Fifteen years?" Rogue asked.

"You saying Xavier's really ain't the first mutant school in the world?" Fred gasped. "But how come we never found out about all this stuff?"

"We've learned how to shield ourselves from Cerebro or any other mutant detection devices with advanced cloaking technology," Doug told them. "I've even worked on it from time to time."

"Are you saying that this Hellfire Club not only has an army of mutants they're training, but they have all this technology at their disposal which they can use against us?" Kurt asked.

"That's about it," Doug said.

"Just what we need, another Magneto wanna be group to fight," Lance folded his arms.

"They're worse than that," Xi's eyes nodded.

"He's right," Remy said. "On top of everything else we're talking about some of the most rich and powerful people on the planet. So powerful the law can't touch them."

"At least people know Magneto for who and what he is," Althea said. "But these guys hide under a cloak of respectability, hiding their true selves from the world."

"Man this place is starting to sound more dangerous than the world with the giant mutated chickens," Sunfire groaned.

"Mutated chickens?" Doug asked.

"Don't ask," Blink groaned.

"If they're anything like those mutated seagulls we had to deal with I know the feeling," Kurt groaned.

"Mutated **seagulls?**" Doug looked at him.

BOOM!

"QUICKSILVER! MORPH!" Forge shouted.

"Ha ha ha!" Pietro laughed as he ran by. Morph followed him in the shape of a cheetah.

Forge was behind them covered in blue dye and shaving cream. "YOU TWO ARE DEAD! YOU HEAR ME? DEAD!"

"Uh, did we mention Morph likes to play practical jokes?" Blink asked.

"And he found a friend in Pietro," Lance rolled his eyes. "Lucky us…"

"Oh great…" Rogue moaned. "**Two **of them! I miss the angry mobs…"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"What do you mean she shut you out?" Shipwreck blinked.

"Exactly what I said," Xavier looked at him. "When I tried to establish a telepathic rapport with Rachel, Jean took control and shut me out."

"And what's worse is that after my preliminary examination, Jean literally tossed us out of the infirmary," Hank sighed. "Except for Scott she won't let anyone in there. She is being quite irrational."

"Yeah, well right now Jean's maternal instincts have awakened full force," Shipwreck said. "So if I were you I'd back off a little. Just give her a little space and time to bond with the kid."

"I'm afraid it's not just that," Xavier sighed, realizing that he would have to have a talk with Jean about her growing powers sooner than he had hoped. "But I have to admit in this situation, you may have a point. Let me know if there are any changes."

He wheeled out of the room with Shipwreck following behind. "So how are you coping with all these new people?" Shipwreck asked.

"I must admit it is unusual having strangers from another dimension live here," Xavier admitted. "Even if one of them I've technically known for years."

"Speaking of knowing someone, where's Storm?" Shipwreck asked. "I feel like bonding with her today."

"In the Danger Room training some of the students," Xavier said. "Be careful she might want to do some bonding in her own fashion if you interrupt."

"No she's not," Shipwreck said. "That Joseph guy is."

"What?" Xavier asked.

"She's probably hiding in her room again! I'll go find her!" Shipwreck walked away.

"You do that," Xavier sighed. He went to the Danger Room control center and saw Joseph wearing his Magneto uniform. His eyes widened as he saw Bobby, Ray, Jubilee, Rahne, Amara, Roberto, Sam and Jamie chase around a familiar gold ball, which Joseph was controlling with his powers.

"All right now, why don't you all get changed into your civilian clothes and I'll meet you outside?" Joseph told them when they finished. He saw Xavier in the control room and went out to meet him. "I hope you don't mind, Storm looked overwhelmed and I thought I'd help out a little."

"You also changed back into your old uniform," Xavier told him.

"Yes. What's wrong with that?" Joseph asked.

"Remember when I mentioned I was captured by Apocalypse and I saw some of his visions of the future?" Xavier sighed. "One of them was of Magneto teaching my students."

"And you thought it was **your** Magneto," Joseph sighed. "That's one thing I have learned about precognition over the years, they have an annoying habit of coming true in ways you least expect."

"I certainly didn't expect a Magneto from another dimension," Xavier shook his head.

"Keep trying Charles," Joseph said. "I came around, maybe he will too. Although from what I've heard…I severely doubt it."

"You of all people are saying that?" Xavier asked.

"In my time I admit I have done a lot of misdeeds," Joseph said. "But even I drew the line at experimenting on my fellow mutants and tossing loyal people aside like trash. However I wouldn't worry too much about him. You will have larger problems if this Phoenix Force emerges in your dimension."

"You had the Phoenix Force in your time?" Xavier asked.

"I never experienced it personally, but yes I have heard of it," Joseph nodded.

"How…was it defeated?" Xavier asked.

"Eventually it left Jean after she was killed, but then revived her using the life force of the other X-Men," Joseph told him.

"So it is possible that we may survive it," Xavier thought. "But we can't take any chances. I must take whatever steps needed to prevent the Phoenix from emerging in the first place."

"I'm sorry Charles," Joseph said. "But you may be fighting the inevitable."

The door opened and Wanda walked through it. "Um, is this a bad time?" She asked.

"No Wanda, can we help you?" Xavier asked.

"Can I…Talk to Joseph for a bit please?" Wanda asked. "It's…personal."

"Of course," Xavier nodded and left the room.

"I need to know something," Wanda asked Joseph. "Why do you…did you become like you were? I mean…"

"What drove me to the madness of wanting to rule a mutant dominated world?" Joseph asked. "It is a very long and painful story."

"Is it anything like what happened to my…I mean the Magneto in this dimension?"

"Painfully identical," Joseph sighed. "Both of us lost our families in concentration camps during World War II and we were test subjects of insane Nazi scientists who wanted to study DNA."

"Test subjects?" Wanda was shocked.

"Yes," Joseph said. "After the war I…we both fell in love with a woman named Magda. We had a daughter named Anya. However she was murdered…"

"Murdered?" Wanda asked. "What happened?"

"I was wrongfully accused of a crime and being some sort of sorcerer," Joseph hardened at the memory. "The townspeople set my house on fire. Magda managed to escape the flames but my daughter…" He shook his head. "I was trapped, held in chains by a mob. Helpless. They let her perish in the fire."

"Oh my god…" Wanda felt ill. "And that happened here too?"

"Yes," Joseph nodded. "And both of us took our vengeance on the townspeople. Only Magda survived, but she was horrified at what I had done and fled. I didn't know she was pregnant at the time and for years I knew nothing about the existence of my children. That is how this your Magneto and I differ, while I could not find my beloved Magda, he did."

"I didn't know that," Wanda thought. "But that still doesn't excuse the things he did to me. To Pietro. To Rogue and Kurt and all the other people he's harmed. If anything he's even worse!"

"True, he has become the very thing he has despised," Joseph looked at his hands. "And so did I."

"At least you're trying to make amends for what you've done," Wanda said. "My father will never change. Do you know…What happened to my mother? I was told she died."

"I think she did," Joseph said. "I don't know the whole story in this dimension but I do know one thing, a man called the High Evolutionary was involved as he was in my dimension."

"The High Evolutionary?" Wanda asked. "Who's he?"

"In my dimension he created a society of hybrid animal/humans in acity called Wundergore," Joseph said. "Odds are he did the same as well in this one. In my dimension he merely gave shelter to Magda. But all I do know about this dimension's High Evolutionary is that he helped your father imprison his wife."

"Imprison…?" Wanda gasped. "So there's a chance that my mother may still be alive?"

"Highly unlikely, but I suppose it's possible," Joseph sighed. "I hope I was able to help you."

"You have, at least now I understand why my father acts the way he does," Wanda sighed. "A little anyway…"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"I still say that using your powers to shove both Beast and the Professor out the door was a little much," Scott folded his arms.

"Let's just say I'm still annoyed with the Professor right now," Jean told him. She was holding the unconscious Rachel's hand.

"If that's you annoyed, remind me not to **really **tick you off," Scott remarked. "How is she?"

"Scott, she's literally been through hell," Jean told him. "How do you **think **she is?"

"Don't worry, I've survived worse…" Rachel muttered. "I literally survived the end of my world, remember?" She sat up and looked at the two of them. "So you're both…"

"Yeah…apparently," Scott blinked. "Sorry, this is kind of weird for us."

"How do you think **I** feel?" Rachel asked. "I may or may not end up being born thanks to everything…"

"HELLO!" Trinity opened the door and shouted cheerfully. "VISITING DAY!"

"Oh goody…" Jean winced.

"What do you three want?" Scott asked.

"Trinity?" Rachel blinked. "Is that you?"

"You know us?" Daria asked.

"Um, the older versions of you," Rachel confessed. "You three were an important part of the resistance."

"Cool," Quinn said.

"What are you three doing here?" Jean asked.

"We thought this might help," Daria held a small hand held device. "It's a tattoo remover."

"Yeah your face already has enough lines on 'em," Brittany said.

"This can help you," Quinn said. "The Exiles said that you didn't want those marks on your face in the first place. So we thought…"

"Thank you but…I can't," Rachel shook her head. "I don't deserve it."

"What do you mean?" Quinn asked.

"They're symbols of my shame," Rachel explained. "Of when I was a Hound. Tracking down and killing other mutants."

"That wasn't your fault!" Scott put his hands on her shoulders. "Don't ever say that! You were just a little kid when…If anyone's to blame it's us. Well the older versions of us anyway."

"You?" Rachel asked.

"We should have kept you safe," Jean said. "But we failed. Not you."

"Still…" Rachel shuddered. "The things I did…"

"You were brainwashed," Scott said. "You weren't responsible for what you did."

"It's a miracle you broke free," Jean said.

"Listen, it's your face," Daria said. "You shouldn't let how someone else thought how you would look make you a prisoner."

"Those lines are symbols of false guilt and shame," Brittany said.

"That's how they controlled you before," Quinn said. "You really want them to keep controlling you?"

"They're gonna keep bugging you until you agree," Jean told Rachel. "Trust me on this."

"I could just use my telepathy to hide the lines but…" Rachel began.

"We wanna help! Please?" Daria begged.

"Dad won't let us play with his tattoos," Quinn said.

"You'd be doing him a favor cause we were gonna put some stuff on him while he was passed out and…" Brittany began.

"All right! All right!" Rachel sighed. "Anything to shut you guys up! Boy I thought you were annoying as adults."

"They couldn't get much worse," Scott folded his arms as Quinn worked on Rachel's face.

"See! It's just like exfoliating those dead cells away!" Quinn said cheerfully.

"Does it hurt?" Jean asked warily.

"No, I don't really feel anything," Rachel told them.

"All done!" Quinn finished up.

"See!" Brittany took out a mirror and showed Rachel her face. "It'll be a little red for a couple of hours but still…"

"It's weird…" Rachel said. "I haven't really looked at myself in a long time."

"What's weirder is that you look just like Jean," Brittany noticed.

"Well so much for our invention helping her looks," Daria said.

"All right! That's it!" Jean grabbed Daria by the arm. "OUT!"

"Sheeze! Some people just can't face the truth!" Daria snapped as the triplets were shoved out the door.

"And stay out!" Scott slammed the door shut. Rachel began to laugh. "What's so funny?"

"I was just thinking that they seem to have a knack for helping me out even when I don't want it," Rachel told them. "It's a long story which I really don't want to get into right now. You don't mind if I get some sleep do you? I'm still wiped out."

"Sure, we can talk later," Scott nodded. "Come on Jean." They went out to give her some privacy. "She's really had it rough. I feel so helpless. We should have done something… Or they should have done something to protect her. How could the X-Men have failed so badly?"

"No one's ever going to hurt her again," Jean said softly, her eyes narrowed in determination. "Not if I can help it."

**Next: Life in the X-Mansion goes on. And it also goes insane. As usual…**


	5. Meet The New Class

**Meet the New Class**

The next day after a harrowing training session and an insane breakfast, the New Mutants made their way to the classroom. "You know that Danger Room isn't as bad as I thought it was gonna be," Tim remarked. "Okay I could have done without the laps but the lasers and the razor saws being thrown at me wasn't so bad. Kind of reminded me of home."

"Where did you grow up? On a battlefield?" Everett groaned.

"Nah, on the streets of New York," Tim said. "Let's just say I never had what my parole officer called a stable environment."

"I think more than half the people here have the same background," Tabitha chewed some gum. "Lord knows I didn't."

"Hey, at least you guys didn't live in a sewer," Ray said.

"Try a graveyard sometime," Dead Girl remarked. "If that's not one step down I don't know **what** is!"

"Well you certainly meet an interesting group of people here," Betsy remarked. "So where are you originally from, Dead Girl? You know before your…untimely demise?"

"To be honest I haven't a clue," Dead Girl shrugged. "It's all kind of a blur. But something tells me my death was the high point of my life."

"So the main X-Men get a separate class from us?" Doug asked as they went into the classroom and sat at their seats. "Even Bobby and Rina go to the separate class? Even though they're not graduating with the others?"

"Yeah and you get stuck with the rest of us nuts," Tabitha blew a huge bubble. "I don't know why they call us the 'New Mutants'. I mean you new guys I get but the rest of us have been around here a lot longer!"

"Even though you were with the Brotherhood?" Roberto pointed out.

"Hey, I only lived with them for a short time," Tabitha pointed out. "When Mystique and Magneto showed up I ran outta there."

"Wait, you were part of the original Brotherhood?" Everett asked.

"I hung around 'em for a few months," Tabitha said. "By themselves they're not that bad. It was Mystique and Magneto that were lousy."

"That's not how Cyclops tells it," Everett said.

"Scooter Boy has a huge stick up his…" Tabitha began.

"Hello!" Morph walked in with Magnus. "I'm Mr. Morph and this is Mr. Magnus and we'll be your teachers for today!"

"I don't know how Xavier roped us into this," Magnus groaned.

"Free room and board? Does **that** ring a bell?" Tabitha called out.

"Remind me to give you detention later," Magnus looked at her. "With someone else!"

"Lighten up, Teach," Morph made himself look like a professor. "It's our job to fill their minds with valuable knowledge! Things that they'll need to know in order to survive. Like how to play Texas Hold 'em!"

"Forget it Morph!" Magnus slammed his fist on the teacher's desk. "Even I know that's unacceptable! Poker they can learn on their own time!"

"Okay, okay," Morph waved. "How about Blackjack?"

"This isn't Clown College!" Magnus snapped as the students laughed. "Will you take this seriously?"

"For a good meal I'll take anyone anywhere," Morph grinned.

"I should have let myself get atomized into a million pieces when I had the chance," Magnus groaned.

"Well what are we supposed to teach them today?" Morph asked.

"How should I know? You were the one who asked me to help you!" Magnus snapped.

"Well now you know why," Morph said. "Hey Skullfire you have a problem? You're twitching just as much as Magnus here."

"Let's just say I don't feel like sitting much," Tim grumbled as he fidgeted.

"He got on the wrong side of Kitty's pet dragon," Amara giggled.

"That's it!" Morph said. "That's what we'll teach! Dragons!"

"We are not gonna teach them about dragons!" Magnus snapped. "Do any of you kids know what we're supposed to teach you?"

"Yeah, like we're gonna give them a straight answer," Ray whispered to Tim. Then he spoke up. "Acutely our last teacher was going over probabilities, using poker."

"See I told you card games were an important part of life," Morph said to Magnus.

Magnus growled. "No it is not! And Berzerker I know a wild story when I hear one!"

"Not in this case," Tabitha said. "Mr. Proudstar played cards with us all the time."

"Until Beast caught him at it," Jamie added.

"Really?" Tim blinked. "Man, maybe there is something to this education crap."

"Didn't Xavier say **anything **about what we were supposed to teach these kids?" Magnus snapped.

"Uh, probably but I kind of got distracted," Morph admitted. "Hey your mom is really cute in this dimension!"

"That is **not **what I wanted to hear!" Magnus snapped.

"But it's true!" Morph said. "I mean she is a fox! And…" 

"Say **one** more word on that subject and you will become Xavier's new lawn ornament!" Magnus grabbed an apple on the desk and turned it into metal. This silenced any giggling in class. "GET THE POINT?"

"Maybe we should get to studying?" Morph gulped. "So class open your books to page 12!"

"Which one?" Ray asked.

"ANY OF THEM!" Magnus snapped. "Just sit there and read something!" The students reached for several books and started to randomly read. "I do not believe this!"

"Just be glad Rogue's not in this class," Morph said. "That would give a whole new meaning to Teacher's Pet…"

"THAT'S IT! I WARNED YOU!" Magnus shouted. Soon several metallic objects started to whirl around the room. The class watched as Magnus chased Morph around. Morph changed into a kangaroo and hopped out of the classroom.

"Well this is certainly an education you wouldn't find at my old school," Betsy blinked.

"Mine either," Doug said. "Not even in weapons class."

"These guys make Proudstar look like Teacher of the Year," Sam remarked.

"Well at least these guys aren't setting any textbooks on fire," Roberto shrugged.

"Give 'em a few minutes," Jubilee said. "They probably will."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"So exactly who is living with who now?" Logan asked. "I know we had to shake things up since the new kids got here."

"Well Kitty and Danielle still share a room," Ororo told him. "As well as Peter and Remy now. Tabitha and Amara have changed roommates so that they can be together. Jubilee is now with Rina."

"That's good," Xavier nodded.

"No, it isn't," Logan groaned. "I think they're both a bad influence on each other. Trust me on this."

"Oh come on now Logan, they're sisters well…adopted sisters, sort of," Hank said.

"Hank, the Firecracker is teaching X how to shop and get in trouble and X is teaching the Firecracker how beat people up and pick locks!" Logan said. "And they are both getting very good at driving me **crazy!**"

"Logan you said so yourself you couldn't find their scents in your room when somehow someone put pink ribbons in your hair," Hank pointed out.

"Yeah like Jean would spray her perfume all over the place," Logan snapped. "I know it was them! Or the Ice Cube. Or Boom Boom. Or the Elf. Or…There are way too many suspects around here!"

"Yes well," Hank looked at the roster. "Moving on now, Rahne and Paige are now sharing living space as are Rogue and Betsy."

"Really?" Logan asked. "I would have thought they were the last two to bunk together."

"Rogue requested it," Xavier said. "I think she's willing to give Betsy a chance and they are starting to bond. It seems they do have several similar interests."

"Well so do her and Dead Girl," Ororo pointed out. "Personality wise I mean."

"Only reason she and Dead Girl won't share is to avoid any vampire/zombie jokes," Logan snorted.

"Well at least with Betsy and Rogue sharing we won't have any reprisals of the Backstreet Boys Poster wars we had with Rogue and Kitty when they shared a room," Hank thought. "And Penny is with Dead Girl. Can't really hurt each other."

"Jean still has her own room since she's an instructor," Ororo said. "And so does Scott. Forge has his own room as well, although he's more likely to sleep in his lab."

"Bobby and Sam are sharing," Hank continued. "As are Jesse and Jamie still have singles. Which makes sense because at times Jamie can be his own roommate."

"Roberto and Ray have switched and are now Roberto is with Everett and Ray is with Tim," Xavier said. "Hopefully this will be a less volatile combination. And Kurt has offered his room for Doug for now. They're getting along quite well."

"Yeah they spent four hours talking in German last night," Logan said. "Why does Bedlam still have his own space?"

"Would **you **share a room with someone who can accidentally blow up your alarm clock or stereo in the middle of the night?" Hank asked. "Especially if that person had a nightmare or an accidental power surge?"

"You mean he's still having those surges?" Logan asked. "I thought you told us they were minor?"

"They're getting stronger," Xavier said. "Especially since the Acolytes attack. But during the day he seems to be in more control."

"Oh so he just can't stop blowing stuff up when he's asleep," Logan said sarcastically. "That makes me feel much better!"

"Well at least he doesn't do it on purpose," Hank pointed out. "Unlike Mr. Fitzgerald who thought it was amusing to try and zap Lockheed."

"So that's how he got those burns on his butt," Logan grinned.

"Yes, some of these new students are quite spirited," Xavier raised an amused eyebrow.

"PENNY! NO!" They heard Scott shout outside.

"What in the world…" Hank opened the door and on the other side was Scott holding onto a textbook with his hands and Penny was holding onto the other end with her teeth.

"Penny! No! Stop that!" Scott snapped. "Professor!"

"Problems?" Hank raised an eyebrow.

"You could say that," Scott said. "I decided to try to teach her to read but she decided to have a snack instead!"

"I've heard of devouring the contents of novels but this is ridiculous," Hank blinked.

Penny managed to yank the book out of Scott's hands and ran off with it. "PENNANCE! NO! NO! BAD GIRL! BRING THAT BOOK BACK HERE!" Scott ran after her. "DON'T EAT THAT! GOT YA! OW! MY LEG!"

Hank looked at Logan. "And I thought your clone's skills were less than polished."

"At least X didn't bite people," Logan remarked. "Not much anyway."

"She's obviously not used to living with people," Xavier said. "It's going to take some time."

"PENNY! NO! NO! WE DON'T DO **THAT **IN THE HALLS!" Scott shouted. "I AM NOT CLEANING **THAT **UP!"

"I think the first thing we should do is get her housebroken," Logan did an about face and went back into the room with the others. "We should have called her 'Spot'."

"Don't you just love working with new people?" Hank asked sarcastically.

"Speaking of new people we finally got those digital images of the Acolytes who attacked the mansion from our security cameras," Warren said as he walked in. "Some of them are old friends of ours." He put in a disk and brought up the images.

"Horns, Sabertooth, and Feral…" Logan looked at some of the pictures. "I thought I recognized those scents. Who's the one being creamed by Pinky?"

"That's Cortez I believe," Hank said.

"Oh yeah," Logan nodded. "Penny sure likes to bite doesn't she?"

"This woman was the ringleader," Warren brought up another picture. "They called her…"

"Amelia Voight," Xavier's jaw dropped.

"You know her?" Warren asked. "Wait a minute, that name is familiar. Wasn't she the one you used to…" Warren did a double take. "Oh boy…"

"Of all the mutants in the world," Hank shook his head. "I certainly did not expect this from **her!**"

"First the Porcupine and now your old flame," Logan frowned. "Charles we really need to be more careful of who we let in here!"

"Charles," Ororo's voice was on the intercom. "Colonel Fury is on your private line. He says he needs to speak to you right away."

"Here we go," Logan groaned. "I knew Fury wouldn't buy that clone story!"

"Let me talk to him," Xavier said.

The others left but Logan stayed. "Anything Fury can say to you he can say to me and he knows it," Logan told him.

"What can I do for you Colonel Fury?" Xavier asked as he turned on the videophone.

"You could tell me more about one of your students for starters," Fury said. "A certain Douglas Ramsey."

"I was assuming you would wish to speak about Joseph," Xavier said.

"Is that what you're calling that Magneto Light wannabe?" Fury remarked. "Whoever he is he's the least of your problems. Especially since the real Magneto just trashed a scientific research facility in Japan this morning. Three guesses what he's gonna do with the equipment and material he stole?"

"You don't know for sure that he will use it making another Bio Pulse," Xavier cautioned him.

"No, since you so conveniently trashed our lab and erased all the data saying exactly what that thing was made of!" Fury snapped. "And for some reason several of our people who were studying that project surprisingly forgot how it was put together!"

"That latter part wasn't me," Xavier told him.

"Well its not like you haven't done that before you know?" Fury snapped. "Like I said right now we have bigger fish to fry, the Ramsey kid for starters."

"What makes Cypher so special?" Logan said. "I don't get it. There are a lot more powerful mutants in the world."

"You're kidding me right?" Fury said. "For years we've been trying to get information on the Hellfire Club and have gotten less than nothing. Even Hydra's security isn't as tough to crack. Although I admit they have gotten downhill a bit since Logan's little girl trashed their headquarters and nearly every single one of their other bases!"

"So that's what's got your panties in a twist?" Logan folded his arms. "It's not like you to get so worked up over an informant."

"It's not just that," Fury told him. "You're forgetting his little talent. Five will get you ten the Hellfire Club had him translate and work on some super secret stuff. We wanna know how much of it is ours."

"Or what the Hellfire Club was working on," Xavier thought aloud.

"That kid could have vital information that would impact not only national security but global security as well," Fury told him. "We need to know exactly what he knows and soon."

"Douglas has already been through a lot," Xavier said. "The Hellions tried to kill him when he escaped."

"All the more reason we need to make sure the kid is secure," Fury said. "We'll be there in one hour. Fury out."

"Oh this is really gonna be fun," Logan grumbled. "Just what we need, another reason to start fights with SHEILD."

"They want to take Douglas," Xavier sighed. "I may not have been able to read his mind but I could read between the lines."

"They may put up more of a fight for him than with X," Logan frowned. "Assassins and weapons are a dime a dozen, but a good translator and code breaker? That could be even more dangerous."

BOOM!

"Then again…" Logan grumbled as he and Xavier went to investigate the disturbance. "Now what?"

"COME BACK HERE AND DIE LIKE A MAN!" Magnus screamed as he chased Morph around with the New Mutants. Several globes, metal rulers and other objects with metal were flying around attacking Morph. "STUDENTS! HUNT HIM DOWN! HUNT HIM DOWN AND BLAST HIM TO PIECES!"

"You heard the man! He told us to do this!" Tabitha said as she launched a small time bomb at Morph. It exploded leaving a small dent in the wall.

Logan and Xavier ducked to avoid the flying debris. They watched in shock as the students chased Morph by them. "NO RUNNING IN THE HALLS!" They heard Scott scream. "YEOW!"

"HEY!" Sunfire shouted. "DON'T TRY TO BEAT UP MORPH WITHOUT ME!" Another explosion could be heard.

"WILL YOU LUNATICS KNOCK IT OFF!" Mimic could be heard shouting next. "OW! MAGNUS! SUNFIRE! OKAY NOW YOU TWO ARE REALLY GONNA GET IT!"

BOOM!

"RUN! RUN!" Ray screamed as he and most of the New Mutants ran away. Morph and Magnus were with them.

"YOU'D BETTER RUN!" Sunfire shouted as she, Mimic and TJ chased them.

"Perhaps the Exiles really aren't suited to do teaching," Xavier said. "Except of course in combat exercises."

"We really need to get some new teachers," Logan sighed. "And definitely…"

"A few tanks," Xavier finished his sentence. "I know, I know…"


	6. More Madness at the Mall

**More Madness at the Mall**

"They've been in there a long time," Kitty reported as she returned to the kitchen. "What could Fury and those people from SHEILD talk about with Doug for so long?"

"Probably all those things he saw when he was in the Hellions," Jean told her. Jean, Jubilee, Rachel, Danielle, Rogue and Amara were also in the kitchen having a snack.

"Someone like Doug could be very valuable," Rachel frowned. "I remember back in my time mutants with translating skills and inventing skills were even more prized than telepaths."

"You don't think they'd really take Doug do you?" Kitty thought aloud. "I mean he hasn't done anything!"

"Wise up Kitty," Rouge said. "He was part of an organization that makes the Mafia look like a disorganized Boy Scouts troop."

"Yeah but he didn't know!" Kitty said. "And he left them! That's gotta mean something!"

"Don't worry," Jean put her hand on Kitty's shoulder. "We took in Rina so Doug should be no problem. It'll all work out, I promise."

"Speaking of things working out, how's your therapy going Rachel?" Kitty asked.

Rachel sighed. She looked more comfortable in a yellow top and jeans than she did in her old uniform. "Okay, I mean for onlytwo day's worth of work we covered a lot. But I don't think the Professor is very happy with me. I mean this power I have can cause a lot of trouble."

"You said that you possessed something called a Phoenix Force and you inherited it from me…"Jean began.

"I don't know the whole story myself but I do know you had tapped into that power and the ability to do so could be inherited from mother to daughter," Rachel said. "But I do know that it's part of the very life force of the entire universe."

"That sounds like a lot of power," Rogue said.

"It is," Rachel said. "Even when I went out of control back in Bayville I was doing all I could to hold on. That was only a small fraction of it. A few more minutes and I think I would have lost it completely."

"We all know Jean's pretty powerful," Danielle said. "But it's hard for us to imagine that kind of power."

"You weren't here when Jean's powers went haywire during some of her surges," Rogue said. "Or some of my episodes. Believe me, that kind of power is no laughing matter."

"And if you can't control it..." Jean began then stopped.

"Well isn't this a depressing conversation?" Jubilee groaned.

"We seem to have a lot of those lately," Danielle admitted. "But what else can we do?"

"Plenty! Let's go to the mall and really have some fun!" Jubilee said.

"Hello? We can't! We're practically banned from the Bayville Mall," Kitty told her. "Which totally sucks because they have a great sale at Lord and Taylor's!"

"So we'll go to another mall," Jubilee said. "One where they don't know us!"

"Which mall?" Jean asked.

"We have a few friends who could teleport us anywhere!" Jubilee said.

"Yeah we could go to any mall we want!" Danielle said.

"Well it would be fun to get out of the Institute for a bit," Jean said. "Maybe we should ask the Professor…"

"Jean, you're practically a teacher here," Rogue said. "You don't need permission."

"I **am **a teacher here," Jean corrected Rogue. "I see your point but still…" She looked at Rachel. "You know what? Let's do it."

"Do what?" Tabitha asked as she walked in with Dead Girl and Blink.

"Going to the mall," Jubilee said. "If Blink doesn't mind doing us a little favor."

"Favor?" Blink asked.

"What kind of favor?" Althea asked as she walked in with Wanda.

"Blink could transport a lot of us to the mall," Kitty said.

"We could use our teleportation watches too," Wanda said. "Which mall?"

"How about that really big one with the Ferris Wheel in New York?" Danielle asked.

"Oh yeah I heard about that!" Wanda said.

"It would be kind of fun," Rogue said. "I am going stir crazy. Even a mall would be a nice change. But don't we need a chaperone or something?"

"Well Blink here's an adult right?" Althea asked.

"I'm twenty," Blink said. "And TJ is 21. I know she'd love to come."

"There you are," Tabitha said. "Two chaperones."

"Look I'll tell Scott where we're going and get a few image inducers," Jean said. "As long as we keep our powers under control and don't attract attention we should be okay. Go find the other girls and see if any of them wants to come."

"Don't worry Jean," Tabitha said. "What could happen?"

"You always say that and something always **does **happen," Amara groaned. "Remember the cruise ship from hell with the hostile passengers and the erupting volcano?"

"Yeah but this time we're just going to a mall," Tabitha said. "How bad could it be?"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Gee Karl you couldn't think of anywhere more original to ditch school than go to the mall?" A tall black haired teenage thug growled. Six teens surrounded a thin boy with spiked green hair and punk black clothes. They were in the alley next door so no one could see him.

"Seemed like a good idea at the time…" He grumbled.

"I don't know what you did to my sister Lykos," One very beefy teen snarled. "Tanya was unconscious all night! Now what drug did you slip her?"

"I didn't do anything, Rex!" Karl snapped. "Leave me alone, or else!"

"Or else what?" One thug asked.

"You really don't wanna know," Karl snarled.

"You tell me what you did you little freak!" Rex grabbed him by the shirt and slammed him against the wall.

"How about I show you instead?" Karl snarled and grabbed Rex by the hands. His eyes started to glow.

"Wh-what are you doing…?" Rex gasped then fell unconscious.

"Who wants to go next?" Karl grinned.

"He's a mutie!" One of them shouted.

"Get him!" Another shouted and rushed him. Only to be grabbed by Karl and to fall unconscious as well.

"Freaking hell…" Another teen shouted. "I'm outta here!"

"We're gonna tell everyone what you are mutie!" The first teen snarled as he ran away. "We'll be back!" The teens ran off.

"Yeah and I'll be waiting!" Karl snarled. He looked down and kicked Rex in the side. "Losers." He quickly skulked away and ran off towards the mall. "They're all losers. Who needs them? Who needs this town?"

Suddenly he saw a flash of light. Instinctively Karl flattened himself against the wall and hid. Then he heard laughter. He looked around and saw several teenage girls had appeared out of nowhere. "Oh man like this is a total trip!" One of them with a brown ponytail giggled.

"Nothing like a ride on the Mutant Express," Another said. She had pink hair. Holding up her wrist she remarked. "Thanks for the image inducers Jean."

"No problem Blink," A tall red head said. "Well ladies? Ready to go shopping?"

"Wow, so this is a mall huh?" A red head with short hair spoke. She looked exactly like the red head with long hair.

"Girl you are in for a treat!" A girl with blonde hair and a zest for life laughed as they went inside.

"They must be mutants…" Karl thought. "Yeah they gotta be." He decided to follow them.

After all, what could happen?"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Now remember guys we don't want to attract any attention," Jean told them. "So no powers and don't cause any scenes! Got it?"

"No problem," Tabitha waved. "HELLO BOYS! WE HAVE ARRIVED!" She jumped up and waved up and down. "Come on Amara! DG! Let's party!"

"Now you're talking," Dead Girl grinned. Her image inducer let her look like she had Caucasian skin instead of her normal green pallor.

"You were saying?" Kitty gave Jean a look as the girls went off to go shopping.

"Well as long as they don't blow anything up," Jean rolled her eyes.

"Wow even I gotta admit this mall is pretty cool," Rogue said as she saw all the stores.

"They never had shops like this back in England that's for sure," Betsy remarked.

"It's kind of a drag Althea and I are the only two Misfit Girls here," Wanda remarked. "Too bad the others had to do training back at the Pit."

"Hey! How about we check out the Ferris Wheel?" Althea said. "And you can check out that guy who's been giving you the eye."

"What? Where?" Wanda looked around.

"Back there," Althea pointed with her thumb. "He's kind of cute too, in a dark and brooding kind of way. HEY YOU! YEAH YOU WITH THE GREEN HAIR! COME ON OUT!"

"Althea!" Wanda shouted.

"Yo ho!" Althea waved her hand. "Over he-ere!"

"Will you cut that out?" Wanda hissed.

"No use hiding behind that tree there!" Althea shouted. "She can see you!"

"Althea!" Wanda snapped. "You're embarrassing me! AAGGHH!" She gasped as Althea grabbed her arm and dragged her towards the boy.

"Hi there!" Althea said to the green haired boy. "I'm Althea and she's Wanda! What's your name?"

"Uh…Karl," The boy gulped.

"Hi Karl," Althea grinned. "This is Wanda! Cute isn't she?"

"AL!" Wanda snapped.

"Now how about you two get to know each other better?" Althea grabbed them both by the shoulders and steered them towards the Ferris Wheel. "How about somewhere where you can talk and not be disturbed?"

"Hold on! Wait a minute!" Wanda protested. "**You** are severely disturbed!"

"Uh, wait a second…" Karl gulped. "I don't like heights!"

"Have fun now!" Althea said as she shoved them both into the Ferris Wheel. "Rev it up!" She shouted out to the attendant, who simply agreed.

"ALTHEA! YOU ARE A DEAD WOMAN" Wanda screamed as the Ferris Wheel moved. "YOU HEAR ME YOU MENTAL CASE? DEAD! DEAD! DEAD!"

Meanwhile not far away Jean had just bought Rachel a bracelet. "Here put it on," Jean said. It was a crystal bracelet. "See I have one too."

"You didn't have to…" Rachel began.

"I wanted to," Jean told her. "I think you should have something from your…Well, from me anyway. It's not much, but at least you'll have something to remember me by."

"Thank you," Rachel hugged her. "You know, I always wondered what it would be like. Having a day like this with you. You have no idea how much this means to me."

"I…I'm glad," Jean said.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"I am going to kill her!" Wanda folded her arms as she glared out the window of the Ferris Wheel. "She is gonna be so dead…" She looked at the boy next to her. "Uh, sorry about my friend. She's a little…insane. Then again, it's hereditary. I know her family."

"Oh that's okay," Karl felt a strange attraction to this girl. "So…You're a mutant right?"

"How'd you know that?" Wanda gasped.

"I…I can just tell," Karl said. "I think I'm one too…" He had to touch her. He had to show her. Before he could stop himself he grabbed her hand.

"Hey! What are you…" Wanda gasped. Suddenly she felt very weak. Like all her energy was being drained.

"Yes…You are different," Karl gasped. "Mutant energy…So powerful…So strong…So….AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Suddenly his body began to convulse and change. The last thing Wanda saw before she passed out was Karl turning green and start to change shape.

"This has been one of the best days of my life," Rachel grinned as she ate an ice cream cone. "I never even had a real ice cream cone before."

"I'm glad we did this," Jean grinned. "Not just for us, but for all the girls here. Nobody knows we're mutants, no screaming, no fighting…just peace."

"Enjoy it while it lasts," Rogue said as she walked up with a few more girls. "We don't get a lot of it."

"The Exiles don't exactly get bored a lot either," Blink said. "There's always some bad guy or disturbance going on just when we least need it."

"A MONSTER! THERE'S A MONSTER UP THERE!" Someone screamed.

"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" Another man shouted.

"RUN! RUN WEAKLINGS!" A giant pterodactyl like creature with wings and a long green tail climbed on top of the Ferris Wheel cackling.

"Like that…" Blink sighed.

"Does everyone see what I see?" Danielle asked.

"You mean that giant green pterodactyl in shorts on the Ferris Wheel?" Blink pointed. "Yeah we see him."

"Just so we're clear, you don't find them in malls in this timeline right?" Rachel gulped.

"You don't find them in any timeline, except maybe the Flintstones," Tabitha said.

"Ferris Wheel? WANDA!" Althea shouted. "Oh no!"

The creature held Wanda in his hands. "Yes! Mutant life energy is the key! The key to my power!"

"LET HER GO!" Althea shouted. She focused her powers on a nearby fountain and used the water to blast the creature. He squawked letting her go. Rogue flew up and grabbed Wanda in mid air and brought her down.

"There was another kid up there! Wanda was with him!" Althea said as she took her friend from Rogue.

"I didn't see anyone else," Rogue said. "I'll go back up and…"

"Wait…" Betsy used her powers. "The only presence I sense is the creature's…AGGGHHH!"

"Foolish mortal!" The creature snapped. "Telepathic assaults are useless on me!"

"He…He blocked my probe!" Betsy gasped. The creature jumped up and flew straight at them.

"Perish!" He screamed shooting out some kind of force beam from his mouth. It missed the mutants but hit several stores, creating a lot of rubble.

"Well you can't say we started something this time!" Kitty said to Jean as she phased through some of the rubble.

"Typical," Rogue moaned. "We can't go **anywhere **without something going wrong or some crazed mutant showing up!"

"I am Sauron!" The creature that was Karl shouted as he shot out several more force beams.

"And I am ticked off!" Rogue flew up and went towards him. "Listen you prehistoric Tweety Bird, I am gonna clip your wings!"

"I think not!" Sauron laughed as he dodged Rogue's blows. "WHAT?" Suddenly he was held in place by a telekinetic grab.

"I can only hold him so long!" Jean shouted.

"I'll help!" Rachel held onto him too with her powers.

"Let me go!" Sauron struggled.

"Now just hold still," Rogue took off her glove and reached for his face. "And…AGGHHHH!" She got a huge shock when she touched him. Enough for her to blank out for a moment and to fall to the ground.

"Rogue!" Jean let go of her hold on Sauron in order to catch her telekinetically.

"HAHAHAHAAHA!" Sauron broke free of Rachel's hold and flew upward.

"Are you okay?" Kitty asked her friend.

"Yeah…Just a bit surprised that's all. He…He can drain mutant energy too! It's like we canceled each other out," Rogue told them. "But I did get one thing. That thing's another personality of another mutant. A kid. Someone named Karl."

"Oh no…" Althea thought. "Tell me I didn't…Oh great!"

"What did you do?" Kitty glared at her.

"Let's just say that my idea for some matchmaking backfired big time," Althea groaned.

"SUFFER!" Sauron screeched as he made more force beams, blasting everything and at everyone in sight. The mutants dodged the attack as best they could.

"Fry you overgrown turkey!" Amara fired up and used her powers to throw fireballs at Sauron.

Sauron dodged them easily. He made a nosedive at Amara and managed to grab her with his talons. "More energy! More power!"

"UGGGHH!" Amara grunted as she felt her strength being drained. Using what little reserves she had, she converted to her Magma form for a few moments.

"HOT!" Sauron screamed as he dropped her. Amara returned to her regular form just before Nocturne caught her.

"We really have to stop meeting like this," She quipped as she ran out of the way of Sauron's blast attack.

"Here! Cool off!" Althea shouted as she directed another blast of water at Sauron. She managed to get a few good hits before Sauron used his force beam to blow up the fountain and seal the water main shut. Althea used what little water was left to make water cannon balls at Sauron. "Okay, I'm gonna need help here!"

Sauron made a swoop towards Tabitha and Jubilee. Both of them used their powers to blind him. "AGGGHH! WHEN I GET MY TALONS ON YOU!" He screamed.

"Oh no you don't!" Rachel hovered into the air. She turned fire red and flames seemed to emit from her body. "Let's see how you can handle a **real** bird of power!"

Then the shape of a phoenix was formed and it blasted Sauron through several columns and into a wall, where he crumpled to the ground. "Scratch one birdie…" Rachel said as she powered down.

Suddenly a laser shot fired at her. She barely put up a force field in time. A huge group of brown armor clad soldiers stormed in, firing weapons at them. "What is this? A Big Blow Up Mutants Sale?" Kitty gasped as she phased through an electrified net just in time.

"GET THE MUTANTS!" One of the troopers shouted.

"I can't make telepathic contact!" Betsy said.

"Neither can I! They're blocking us somehow!" Jean said as the mutant girls ran.

"Not them…" Rachel gasped as she saw the armored figures. "Not **them!** We have to run!"

"But the mutant…" Kitty said.

"We'll have to come back for him later," Jean said. "Come on! Let's get out of here! Blink!"

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Blink told them. "Hang on!"

Thanks to Blink and Althea's teleportation watch they managed to transport themselves several miles away on top of a roof. They watched the commotion from where they were. "Wanda? Wanda? Speak to me!" Althea tried to shake her friend awake.

"Uh…Al?" Wanda moaned.

"Wanda!" Althea shouted for joy. "Are you okay?"

"Al…promise me something…" Wanda said weakly. Then with a strength she never knew before she wrapped her hands around Althea's throat. "**NEVER DO THAT** **TO ME** **AGAIN!**"

"AGGGHHH!" Althea gasped. "Come on…urk…Wanda…How was I…gasp…Supposed to know…Urrrkkkk…"

"You know for someone who nearly bought it, she's got a strong grip," Dead Girl remarked.

"Well you should know," Betsy said.

"Hey those soldier boys got mean and green locked down tight," Tabitha reported as she looked through a pair of binoculars.

"Where'd you get those binoculars?" Jean asked. "On second thought I don't want to know."

"I swiped them during the fight," Tabitha said.

"I told you I didn't want to know!" Jean snapped.

"Wanda…Stop choking me…AAGGGKK!" Althea was trying to fight Wanda off.

"NEVER! NEVER! NEVER! NEVER! NEVER!" Wanda screamed as she throttled her friend. "NEVER! NEVER! NEVER!"

"Wanda knock it off!" Kitty phased Althea from her grasp. "Save it for the guys who were trying to kill us!"

"Like those crazy commandos down there. Who were those guys?" Rogue asked.

"All I could make out was the letters GRSO," Tabitha told them as she handed over the binoculars to her. "Wonder what they stand for?"

"Genetic Research and Security Organization," Rachel told them.

"You know about them?" Rogue asked.

"Yes," Rachel's face grew hard. "In my time they were the ones who sent the Sentinels to hunt mutants. They were the organization in charge of hunting mutants and experimenting on them. Until the Sentinels started turning them into cyborgs under their control."

"That explains why they were so prepared against us and that Sauron creep," Amara grumbled.

"Oh…Goody," Blink groaned. "Just what we need in this dimension. When are we leaving again?"

"We have to get back and tell the others about this," Jean said.

"Jean I saw some news cameras," Dead Girl said. "Odds are they already know."

"Oh goody," Tabitha remarked as they teleported away. "Won't that make for some **lovely **conversations when we get home!"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Meanwhile somewhere in a hidden sanctuary, another mutant had felt the presence of the Phoenix Force. "No…" She whispered as she observed the news reports. "It can't be…"

She went to a crystal and focused on it. "This is the same power but it's not from this time. It's displaced…Then there's still a chance that…"

"My lady!" A Bacchae walked in and knelt. "I have news."

"I told you not to disturb me!" She roared.

"Forgive me, but this is urgent," The Bacchae handed her a piece of paper. "I thought you would want to see this for yourself."

She read the paper and her eyes widened. "Is this true? Is this what Shaw is planning?"

"Yes my lady, our intelligence has confirmed it. They've found it but have not excavated the crystal. Not yet anyway."

"And they won't, unless…" She thought. "You were right to bring this to my attention. Leave me." The Bacchae did so.

"Fools…" She muttered to herself. "Infinite power is one thing, but even **this** is far beyond mere mortals grasp!"

And for the first time in centuries, the Black Queen was afraid.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Sauron snarled and tried to remove his restraints. Although he still had enough mutant energy in his system he knew it would not last forever. Karl was already trying to break through his mind.

"No…" Sauron snarled. "No…I will not go back to the darknessss."

"Shut up freak," The GRSO guard in the transport prodded him with his rifle. "Where you're going it'll be plenty dark." Suddenly the vehicle halted to a violent stop. "What the…?"

Suddenly the roof of the truck opened up like a sardine can. "What the hell…" The guard readied his rifle only to have it take out of his hand.

"I'll take that if you don't mind," Magneto spoke as he wrapped the rifle around the guard and threw him to the side of the wall.

"Who are you?" Sauron hissed.

"I am Magneto," He spoke. "And your savior…"

"Yessss…" Sauron's eyes narrowed. "Great power…You have great…Uk!" He gasped as Magneto used his abilities to lift Sauron in his metal restraints out of the truck. There were two metal spheres nearby and they floated towards them.

"I think I'll keep you in those restraints until I know precisely how your powers work," Magneto spoke as he lowered Sauron into the metal sphere. He closed it up and went into his own sphere.

**Next: Things just seem to keep going downhill and they're not gonna stop! What else is new? **


	7. Like Ripples in a Stream

**Like Ripples in a Stream**

"Today a mutant riot was stopped by the Genetic Security and Research Organization," Trish Trilby spoke. "Although the mutant mostly responsible for the destruction was apprehended, he escaped and is at large."

"What a bunch of bull!" Dead Girl snapped at the television. "We're the ones who did all the work! Rachel nearly knocked him out single-handed! Then those jerks swooped down and grabbed the glory!" All the X-Girls were in Xavier's office with Xavier and Logan.

"Those jerks identified you from their files. You're lucky Roadblock was able to come up with a cockamamie story about you checking out signs of mutant activity for an official mission," Logan snapped. "You are all facing serious probation here!"

"But we didn't do anything!" Dead Girl protested. "That Sauron creep attacked us!"

"You shouldn't have been at the mall in the first place," Xavier said.

"Excuse me Professor," Jean asserted herself. "The mall was **my** idea! I decided to take the girls out. And none of them used their powers until Sauron appeared. They shouldn't be punished for something **I** approved."

"Especially since we didn't do anything wrong in the first place!" Dead Girl snapped. "What? Is shopping a crime now?"

"No but talking back is!" Logan snapped. "You are looking at some serious time in the Danger Room!"

"But…"Dead Girl began. Kitty held her back.

"I take it the GRSO believed we were responsible in the first place," Betsy said.

"You assume correctly," Xavier said. "I think we need to have a serious discussion about your actions."

"I think we need an agent," Tabitha quipped.

"Tabitha…" Jean said. "Rachel said that in her time the GRSO hunted mutants."

"Well it hasn't come to that yet," Xavier said. "Right now they're being used as a police force specially trained to deal with mutants out of control."

"Three guesses what their idea of a mutant that's out of control is," Amara said.

"You mean they're gonna let those storm troopers just round up any mutant they want?" Rogue asked. "That stinks!"

"Like it or not they're pretty much the law as far as mutants are concerned in this state," Logan said.

"What about X-Factor?" Kitty said. "I thought that's why they were being put together."

"They're more for national emergencies I'm afraid," Xavier told them. "Now as for your punishment…"

"There is not going to be any punishment!" Jean snapped. "We did nothing wrong! And I am not going to let you do anything to the girls because they did nothing worth being punished!"

"Whoa," Tabitha blinked. "Way to go Jean."

"I think this is a discussion that Jean and I should have alone," Xavier spoke sternly.

"You bet we're going to discuss this," Jean snapped.

"Okay," Logan said. "I think we'd better get out of here." The girls and Logan left the room.

"Clearly we have a problem with this," Xavier frowned when they were alone.

"I don't see the problem here," Jean snapped. "All we did was go to a mall. It was hardly the worst thing we ever done. I approved it and I told Scott where we were going."

"You should have asked me first! What were you thinking?"

"I was **thinking **that maybe it would be a good thing for a group of us to try and have a normal afternoon like any other group of teenage girls," Jean fumed. "I mean what good is it to try and convince people that mutants are just like everyone else if even we don't believe it ourselves! We can't just live our lives behind these walls forever, always training for fights!"

"I didn't say that!" Xavier told her. "But you saw yourself how dangerous things are now. Anti-Mutant hysteria is still high. We can't risk any more provocation with…"

"So your solution is to just stay home and try and hide from the world?" Jean interrupted him. "To segregate ourselves from society? I mean look at us! We're always in some kind of fight. To the public we're no different than nearly any other mutant gang! We should be looking for ways to educate people in non-violent ways that co existence between humans and mutants is possible. Not barricading ourselves in a fortress constantly learning new ways to beat our enemies up!"

"I agree with you but the fact is the world is a very hostile place to mutants," Xavier said.

"And most of them live outside these walls!" Jean pointed out. "We have to start finding ways of showing people that mutants and humans can live together or none of us will live at all!"

"This isn't like you Jean," Xavier narrowed his eyes. "Your perceptions have obviously been altered due to your telepathic contact with Rachel."

"And it's a good thing too," Jean said. "I saw what happened to her…What **could **happen to everyone! And it scared the hell out of me. If anything she's proof that there's a very good chance that your dream could **fail!** We have to take steps now more than ever to see that **doesn't **happen! You know I'm right."

Xavier sighed aloud. He folded his hands. "And what would you suggest we do? How else do we counter this possible nightmare?"

"Well it couldn't hurt for us to get some good PR," Jean said. "Maybe Tabitha is right for once. A good Public Relations Agent might help stem some of the damage. I mean even Stryker and Purity have one! We need to do more things to show mutants in a positive light. Especially around Bayville. This is our home! If we're afraid to even walk down the street in our own town, what hope does any mutant have **anywhere?**"

Xavier thought. "You do have a point. Perhaps I have been so afraid and concerned about the safety of my students I've neglected to do what I originally created this school to do. To make it a place where mutants can learn to use their powers for good and to educate them in the ways of peace. Rachel's future frightens me as well. We can't allow it to happen."

"I have another suggestion," Jean said. "My professor Dr. Sterisin is very open to mutant/human relations. He's taught me so much about genetics. Maybe we should ask him if he could come to the school and work with the students?"

"Well I'll have to clear him first but I don't think that's going to be a problem," Xavier said. "I mean he is just a scientist after all."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Calm down Gyrich, it's hardly the soldiers' fault that the latest subject escaped," A chubby, black haired scientist with a mustache spoke on the videophone.

"Dr. Windsor," Gyrich sighed. "You know these mutants are a menace! They must be controlled as soon as possible! And Magneto and those X-Men are the biggest threat of all!"

"You heard Eddington's orders," Dr. Windsor said. "The X-Men are to be kept off limits for now. And that goes for the Misfits as well."

"It galls me to think that those freaks are left to run loose…" Gyrich grumbled.

"We can deal with them later," Dr. Windsor said. "We have more important matters. You have the details of the mutant I told you about?"

"The one that can suppress mutant energy? I've sent my best men out to retrieve him," Gyrich said.

"That one is the most important to our cause," Dr. Windsor said. "He is the key to keeping the mutants under control when Project Neverland is ready."

"Don't worry," Gyrich grinned. "We'll get that freak."

"Remember, we need him alive! Dr. Windsor out!" He shut down the videophone and changed back into his usual self. "All is falling into place."

"Sorry about Magneto and the X-Dorks getting in the way of your latest specimen Mr. Sinister," Riptide said as he walked in.

"No matter, there will always be plenty of subjects I can work on," Sinister grinned.

"But I thought you were working with the Hellfire Club and now you're with the government? What gives?" Riptide asked.

"Project Neverland will give me plenty of subjects whose DNA I can use," Sinister grinned. "I can use the most useful ones for the Hellfire Club."

"So you're like killing two birds with one stone?" Riptide asked.

"Precisely," Sinister nodded. "Now I need you to go to this address and pick up a certain package for me. And for crying out loud try not to blow up the dealer this time! Good procurers of illegal DNA and serums are so hard to find."

"Not my fault the chump wanted to back out of the deal," Riptide took the card and left.

Ring! Ring!

"Hmmm, who's calling **now?**" Sinister looked at his phone line. "Oh the wonders of caller ID. Makes life so much easier. Ah the Xavier Institute. Time for Dr. Sterisin to respond to a house call."

He mimicked his voice to his other alter ego. "Hello? Dr. Sterisin's office? Oh hello Jean. How marvelous to hear from you. What can I do for you? Really? Why…Yes. Yes I'd love to meet your professor! Really? That's a wonderful idea. Are you sure the students would…? Well in that case by all means. You know you should bring some of your friends on campus one day. I'd love to show them my lab and my research. Yes I think they would find it most educational. We'll set it up. Oh and I'd love to meet that young man of yours, Scott was it? Yes be sure to bring him. What? Can't a professor want to meet his favorite pupil's boyfriend? All right, it's a date. To coin a phrase. See you soon." He hung up the phone.

"This is turning out much better than I could have ever **dreamed** of," Sinister grinned. "I thought this would take years to get my hands on the X-Men's DNA, but thanks to Miss Grey…My work will be ahead of schedule by at least two years. I can hardly wait for our first field trip."

And he laughed. "It won't be long now…"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"How much **longer** are we gonna be stuck **here?**" Nocturne asked. The Exiles team was having a meeting without Joseph and Rachel.

"**Why** are we still here?" Magnus asked. "That kid we were supposed to save from a riot was Rachel who caused the riot in the first place!"

"I thought we were here to help Rachel?" Morph scratched his head.

"Yes, but there are other loose ends that need to be taken care of," Mimic told them. "That's all the Tallus will tell us."

"Then perhaps I should tell you more," The Timebroker appeared. "Specifically we need to rescue a boy named Dorian Leech."

"Oh no," Magnus groaned. "Just what we need! Another power dampening little green stinkwad to muck up our powers and make our lives more difficult!"

"Remember the last time we encountered Leech?" Blink said. "It took us a week to escape that Weapon X complex! This is gonna be just like before!"

"Yes but this Leech has an extra quirk," Timebroker told them. "In addition to shutting down mutant powers he can also shut down electrical and other power sources. As well as being a limited precog."

"Well that's a pretty powerful quirk," Morph remarked.

"A quirk powerful enough that if he falls into the hands of Neverland, it will be a disaster," Timebroker said.

"Oh please tell me you are referring to Michael Jackson's ranch," Morph groaned.

"Not bloody likely," Nocturne grumbled. "Knowing our luck."

"Your assessment is correct," Timebroker said.

"Not that keeping a kid from being a guinea pig is a bad thing, but what makes this Leech so special that we have to keep him out of Neverland?" Sunfire asked.

"As you know, in every Neverland we've encountered in each reality the complex is powered by an experimental energy fission weapon," The Timebroker explained. "And also they used that technology in conjunction with Leech's physiology to keep their prisoners under control."

"Yeah they hook up the kid to some machine in order to use his powers to nullify the other mutant's powers," Nocturne nodded. "So?"

"So, because of this extra quirk, this Leech will cause a chain reaction if he is captured and the good folks at Neverland try it," The Timebroker told them. "They'll think they'll be able to control it, but they won't. And as a result…"

"What?" Magnus asked.

"In a word," The Timebroker sighed. "Boom."

"**Boom?**" Morph gulped.

"Boom," The Timebroker nodded. "A very big boom."

"How big a boom are we talking about?" Mimic asked.

"A big one," Timebroker said.

"Really, really, really big?" Morph asked. "As in Chernobyl big?"

"More like as in that big meteor bringing in the ice age and wiping out all the dinosaurs big," The Timebroker said.

"That's a big boom," Sunfire gulped.

"To prevent this from happening we must insure that in this reality, Neverland must not exist! I only pray that we find the boy in time," Timebroker sighed.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Mom! Mom! We gotta keep going!" Dorian pulled at his mother's arm. "The bad men are gonna get us if we don't!"

Mrs. Leech gasped and tried to ignore the pain in her side. Less than a year ago they had moved to Chicago after the Bayville incident in order to get away from the anti-mutant hysteria. Tragically it had followed them. Most of the time Mrs. Leech was forced to keep her son hidden in their small house. But that wasn't possible anymore. Not since their house had been burned to the ground.

It was Dorian who had warned her. Somehow he had foreseen the attack and run out the back of the house just before the strange soldiers advanced. Now they were running for their lives in a junkyard somewhere.

Mrs. Leech fell down and twisted her ankle. "OW!"

"Mom!" Dorian went to her side.

"Dorian run!" Mrs. Leech screamed as five solders approached. "Forget about me!"

"No! I won't leave you!" Dorian clung to his mother.

"End of the line freak!" The soldiers pointed their weapons at him.

"Leave him alone! He's just a child!" Mrs. Leech clung to her son.

"He's a mutie! And we're gonna lock him away where he belongs!" The soldier snapped.

"NO!" Dorian stepped in front of his mother and activated his powers, knocking out all the lights in the street and deactivating the soldier's lasers.

"Cute trick kid!" One soldier pulled out a club and used it to knock Dorian down. "Good thing we were warned about you!"

Dorian was knocked unconscious. The lights went back on. "Leave him alone!" Mrs. Leech managed to get to her feet but was restrained by two soldiers. "DORIAN!"

"We got the boy," The commanding soldier said. "Call base and tell them to pick him up."

"What about her?" Another soldier asked indicating Mrs. Leech.

"She's expendable," The commander pulled out his pistol and went to pull the trigger.

Only to have the weapon fly out of his hands and disintegrate right before his eyes. "What the…?"

"Threatening women and children?" A shrouded figure snarled and leapt in front of him. "Yeah you're **real** tough!" The figure swept his leg out and knocked the soldier down. He faced the other soldiers. "If I were you, I'd let her go…"

"Yeah and how are you…" A soldier holding Mrs. Leech asked before his weapons started to disintegrate around him. The soldiers were even more startled when the lithe figure in black revealed his face. A green scaled face with long green hair and some gold marks on his golden eyes.

"These are your weapons…" The mutant hissed. "And these are your weapons torn into tiny little bits. Microscopic bits if you get my drift. I could do the same to you if I really wanted. But there's a lady present…"

"What you have just experienced is a mild disturbance of the space time continuum," A black man with glasses, jeans and a turtleneck appeared. "My friend is very good at what he does. And so am I!"

Suddenly the soldiers gasped and fell to the ground. Mrs. Leech was in shock. "Don't worry," The man with glasses said. "They won't be able to remember their names much less the two of you."

"Yeah but something tells me that they'll be back," The strange mutant said. "Postman, get whatever you can!" He knelt down. "The boy looks all right but we'd better bring him back to the Vault to be safe."

"Who are you?" She gasped.

"Friends," The strange mutant told her. "If you want to live you and your kid better come with us!"

Mrs. Leech had no choice but to grab Dorian and do so.

**Who are these strange mutants? What will happen to Dorian and his mother? What is Sinister planning? Who's the Black Queen and what part does she have to play? Will the Exiles be able to do anything useful for a change? Read and see.**

**And in case I have forgotten: Anybody who wants to work with the Misfits is welcome to do so. Go ahead. Go play with them! I don't mind! **


	8. The Kindness of Mutants

**The Kindness of Mutants **

"This way," Postman helped Mrs. Leech down the ladder. "We're almost there."

"Where are we?" Mrs. Leech asked. "It looks like it's some kind of underground complex. I mean, I know we're in the sewers but judging by these lights here…"

"Quiet," The serpent like mutant said. "We're not there yet." He was carrying Dorian.

"Your assessment is correct," Postman said. "This used to be a renegade military complex. "Solitaire here found it by accident."

"Not exactly…" Solitaire, the serpentine mutant grumbled. "But close enough." He pressed his hand against the wall and a door opened. "This way."

Mrs. Leech found herself in darkness for a moment, going down some stairs. Then she found a bright light. She blinked to adjust her vision and found herself in a room filled with several mutants.

"Found some more huh?" A huge mutant that looked like a green Alien reject spoke.

"You could say that," Solitaire said. "Litterbug, where's Patch?"

"Right here, right here…" An orange cat like mutant with four arms and navy blue patched up clothes made his way to them. "Give him to me…"

"Patch is our healer," Postman explained to Mrs. Leech.

"Don't worry the boy is in the best of hands, er paws actually…" Patch said as he held the boy. "He seems to be all right. Looks like just a nasty bruise. Ah that's my lot in life, to patch up mutants."

"Only this one ain't a mutant," A large black teen wearing gray sweats that looked nearly transparent glared at Mrs. Leech. "She's a human!"

"She's the boy's mother Cell," Solitaire said. "Considering those brown shirts were gonna wipe her out too it seemed like a good idea at the time."

"Well it's a bad idea if you ask me," Cell snapped.

"Nobody did," Patch snapped. "Now please…"

Dorian woke up. "What…AGGHHH!" He was momentarily startled. The lights in the place dimmed.

"My healing powers!" Patch gasped. "What did…"

"Dorian! Calm down!" Mrs. Leech ran to her son's aid. "Its okay honey. These…people aren't going to hurt us." The lights returned to normal.

"Is there anything about your kid we oughta know?" Litterbug folded his massive arms.

"Dorian…Can shut things down," Mrs. Leech tried to explain it. "Electricity and mutant powers."

"Oh well isn't **that **a fun gift," Cell grunted. "Like we don't have enough power problems around here!"

"Cool it Cell," Postman snapped. "Personally I wouldn't mind a power shortage every now and then."

"I'm sorry," Dorian rubbed his eyes and hugged his mother. "I didn't mean it."

"It's all right Dorian," Mrs. Leech said. "Who are you people?"

"We call ourselves the Morlocks," Patch explained. "You know from HG Wells' immortal classic the Time Machine."

"Morlocks? But I thought they lived in Bayville," Mrs. Leech began.

"There's a lot of Morlocks out there," Postman said. "We just happen to be the Chicago chapter."

"And I left Bayville to get away from mutants," Mrs. Leech sighed. "Not that I meant you personally it's just…"

"Lady we heard what went down in Bayville," A black haired normal looking teen girl said. "With all the riots and other crazy stuff, anyone with half a brain would check out."

"I just wanted to keep my son safe," Mrs. Leech said. "The people at SHEILD said he would be safe if I left and…"

"SHEILD?" Litterbug turned. "You mean that super spy agency? Well now we know where those brown shirts knew about the kid!"

"But why? Why are they doing this?" Mrs. Leech asked.

"Your son has great powers and they will probably use them to hunt mutants," Solitaire said.

"Since when do humans need a reason to hunt mutants?" A white haired young woman in black leaning against a wall said.

"Electric Eve is right. Past few days these soldiers in brown shirts have been hunting for mutants all over the city," Postman said. "Fortunately most of us got away or have been hiding from 'em pretty successfully."

"And they probably got big plans for a kid who can shut off mutant powers like a light switch," Solitaire said.

"But what do we do?" Mrs. Leech asked. "Where can we go?"

"Well you can't go back up world," Eve told her. "That's for sure."

"What about the Institute Mom?" Dorian asked. "You know back in Bayville?"

"You mean the X-Men?" Litterbug asked. "Don't those guys get attacked like every other week?"

"Which is why I left Bayville!" Mrs. Leech said.

"So, leave the kid here," Litterbug said. "He'll be fine."

"I won't leave my son!" Mrs. Leech snapped.

"Nobody's gonna make you," Postman said. "She's just gonna have to stay here too."

"A human? Here?" Cell snapped. "She'll be useless!"

"Look who's talking," Eve glared at him. "But we keep **you **around anyway."

"The brown shirts would kill her or use her to get the kid," Postman said. "And I won't wipe her mind clean, so don't even ask!"

"It's gonna be okay," Eve told her. "It's not that bad here. Heck at least in this place there are actual beds and toilets."

"It's not like you have much of a choice," Solitaire looked at her.

"No I don't," Mrs. Leech sighed.

"You're actually letting that human stay here?" Cell snapped.

"She's standing by her kid!" Eve snapped. "Which is more than my folks have ever done for me! I say she stays!"

"It would be cruel to separate the boy from his mother," Patch said. "And we could use another person who looks human to go above ground to get supplies."

"Yeah but we'd better let things cool off first," Postman said. "Eve, Patch you two show them some sleeping quarters."

"T-thank you," Mrs. Leech stammered. They went off with Patch and Eve. "You really live down here?"

"Pretty much," Eve said. "But like I said this is a lot more than some Morlocks in others cities have."

"I understand this is a drastic change from the lifestyle you're accustomed to," Patch said. "And you are experiencing a bit of cultural shock being around so many mutants. But we are a quite jovial lot, well if you don't count the Happy Bunch over here."

"They hate humans don't they?" Mrs. Leech asked.

"Well hate is rather a strong word," Patch scratched his chin. "But you have to look at things from their point of view. I mean we are being hunted and persecuted after all. It's kind of difficult to maintain pleasant relations with people who would rather shoot you than allow you to live in their neighborhoods."

"You're right," Mrs. Leech said. "People can be such monsters. Oh!"

A pink boy that looked to be Dorian's age ran into them. He had big blue eyes and had a wool cap on his head. He was wearing a large blue sweater and a pair of jeans and sneakers. "Artie! Watch where you're running! We have guests here!"

Artie blinked and backed away. "This is uh…"

"Grace Leech," Mrs. Leech said. "And my son Dorian."

"Hi there!" Dorian went up to the boy. "You're a mutant too right?"

"Artie can't speak my boy," Patch began. Suddenly an image of a happy face appeared over Artie's head. "Well not in the traditional sense anyway."

"Cool!" Dorian said. "All I do is shut down powers and electricity."

"Artie, why don't you show Dorian around?" Patch asked. Artie nodded and both boys ran off. "Don't worry. He's a good boy. They'll stay close by. Artie's sleeping quarters are close to yours anyway."

"Yeah it'll be nice for the kid to have someone to play with for a change," Eve said.

"He doesn't have any parents?" Mrs. Leech asked.

"His mother died a long time ago," Eve said. "And his old man wasn't exactly 'Father of the Year'. He did experiments on his own kid."

"That's horrible," Mrs. Leech was shocked.

"You'd be surprised how many of us have similar stories," Patch said as he came to a series of small rooms. "Ah here we are. It's not exactly the Plaza but it does have its charms."

It was a small space with a double bunk bed, a sink and a table. "Oh my…" Mrs. Leech blinked.

"Okay so it could use some decorating," Patch said.

"Don't worry hon," Eve put her hand on her shoulder. "I got some blankets and stuff. We can fix it up."

"Why are you so…kind to me?" Mrs. Leech asked.

"Hey mutants gotta look out for each other," Eve shrugged. "If we don't who will? And having a kid for a mutant and standing by him…Well…I think you've just found out what happens if you do."

"Look why don't we get some things for you," Patch said. "We'll be right back."

Mrs. Leech looked around and put her arms around her. She sat down and began to cry. More for her son's future than for her own.

**Next: Back to the Institute where the Exiles are starting to wear out their welcome. Here we go…**


	9. Thanks For Not Helping

Thanks For Not Helping 

"It's not like we didn't know this day was coming," Emma told Evan as they walked down the corridor. "Just leave the talking to me."

"All right," Evan agreed, he was still nervous.

They entered the council area of the Inner Circle. Shaw, Leland and Pierce were clearly seen. There was another figure hiding in the shadows. "Glad you could make it for the meeting," Shaw said. "Let's get right to the point. Cypher is alive."

"I've just found that out myself," Emma said.

"Your golden boy screwed up big time!" Pierce snapped. "How do you explain your failure Daniels?"

"I blew up a warehouse around him," Evan said. "Usually that means somebody would be dead."

"Unless you knew he wasn't," Pierce growled.

"Do you honestly believe that Daniels would purposely let him go and **I **wouldn't know about it?" Emma glared at him.

"Of course not," Shaw intervened. "Cypher is obviously more clever than we gave him credit."

"He's already talked to SHEILD!" Pierce shouted. "We are in big trouble! By now they must know everything!"

"Not about everything," Shaw grinned. "My contacts in SHEILD informed me precisely of what they discussed. True this is a bit of a setback, but fortunately the damage is not as great as I feared."

"But he knows who we are and what we've been doing!" Pierce snapped. "If not everything, enough!"

"They were already investigating us," Leland waved his arms. "They already knew that we were part of the Inner Circle anyway. All the boy did was confirm it."

"What if they take his testimony to some Grand Jury then? Or to other authorities?" Pierce shouted.

"They can't," Emma grinned. "It's simply a case of our word verses his. And since we have many lawyers and important judges in our corner that we've paid off or blackmailed...Well…"

"One mutant's word against some of the most powerful people in the country," Leland continued. "It would never even come to trial. Oh sure they can use him for evidence against us, but they're going to need a lot more than that to collar us."

"But they know about our agendas!" Pierce shouted.

"They only thing they know for sure is that we are mutants and are trying to take over the bloody world!" Leland snapped.

"Considering we already control many parts of the world that would be a moot point, is it not?" A dark haired young woman in black emerged from the shadows.

"We don't control SHEILD!" Pierce told her. "They've been a thorn in our side for too long Selene!"

"So? What good is a struggle without a worthy adversary to keep you on your toes?" Selene asked. "Besides, although we may not control SHEILD itself we do have a few good spies placed within SHIELD. Enough to warn us if there is any real danger. Or head off any problems if need be. Like the telepaths who erased the memories of the Bio Pulse from the technicians."

"And they can't mention any of the times we attacked the FOH and stuff," Evan put in. "Not without involving the X-Men or putting some of their own secrets on the line. I mean, their buddy Trask did work for SHEILD and probably gave them some rip off of their technology right?"

"The boy has a point. Cypher's testimony is useless in the eyes of the law and they know it. The important thing is what do we do now?" Shaw asked. "From what I've gathered Cypher hasn't told them about our most important project."

"Only because he was never told how important it was!" Pierce growled. "They think that stupid Bio Pulse is our top priority! Too bad our telepathic spies haven't been able to get to him yet! Well we can't let him run loose! He could break our secret codes easily no matter how hard we try to change them!"

"I have a suggestion," Emma said. "We could try and capture Ramsey again even if only long enough for me to erase certain…parts of his memory."

"Why not just kill the brat and be done with it?" Pierce snarled.

"Because we may need Mr. Ramsey's services again," Shaw said. "Of all mutants, his powers are the most unique. All right Frost. You and Daniels may try and salvage this. And this time don't fail us."

"Very well," Emma nodded. With a wave she dismissed Evan.

"Let's move on to new business shall we?" Shaw sighed as he took out a map. "I'm pleased to report that after years of searching we have finally found the object we require for Project Phoenix. However as this map shows the exact location of its whereabouts could pose a problem."

"Well where is it?" Pierce snapped. "How hard could it be to…" He looked at the map. "Okay, that's definitely a problem."

"Considering it's inside an active volcano yes it would," Shaw agreed. "You think you can create machinery that might be durable enough to retrieve it?"

"I don't think even NASA has that technology," Pierce said. "And even if I did which is a big **if**, there's no way any circuitry would survive long enough in the heat no matter how well protected it was."

"That volcano must be several miles wide," Leland blinked. "The crystal is probably only a foot long and covered with lava so it blends right in. If it hasn't dissolved already."

"Oh it's there all right," Shaw said. "I'll bet my fortune on it. White Queen, how impenetrable is your diamond form anyway?"

"Let's just say I don't want to test it like that," Emma told him. "I'm not so sure I will succeed. The Black Queen's magic on the other hand, might."

"No," Selene said.

"What do you mean **no?**" Shaw glared at her.

"As in, no I won't do it," Selene told him. "Exactly how it sounds."

"May I remind you Black Queen that you have an obligation to the Inner Circle," Shaw fumed.

"Which is precisely why I refuse to help you," Selene told him as she left. "Mark my words Shaw, if you proceed with this plan, you are doomed."

"You haven't been dismissed woman!" Pierce shouted.

"Well then **you **bring her back," Emma was amused. "I wonder why she won't help us. It's not like her to turn down a chance for power. Especially for someone who's lived as long as she has."

"I'll bet you she knew all the time where the crystal was," Pierce snapped.

"Probably," Shaw nodded. "What is she hiding?"

"She just wants all the freaking power for herself," Pierce snapped. "Insolent Cow!"

"Let's focus our energies into how we are going to retrieve the crystal rather than complain about the Black Queen," Leland said. "That might be more productive."

"I need to ponder this," Shaw narrowed his eyes. "This could take a while. Right now dealing with the Ramsey boy is our biggest priority."

"Don't worry," Emma said. "Just leave it to me."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"It took four hours for the Professor to convince Fury that the best place for Doug was here," Scott said as he talked to Jean as they walked in the halls.

"Well that's some good news at least," Jean said. "Has he called his parents yet?"

"The Professor finally made him do it an hour ago," Scott said.

"How'd they take the news?" Jean asked.

"Not that well. Especially since Fury got on the phone and told them that it would be impossible for Doug to go back home with them due to what happened at the Massachusetts Academy," Scott said.

"What? He told them everything?"

"Not everything," Scott said. "Just that it was run by a secret society trying to rule the world and that they tried to kill Doug. I don't think they bought it."

"Well it does sound pretty unbelievable," Jean said.

"Yeah when they started talking about bringing in the lawyers…" Scott began.

"WHAHOOOO!" A large white howler monkey riding some kind of rocket propelled skateboard zoomed by. Nearly knocking the two over.

"COME BACK HERE WITH MY INVENTION!" Forge shouted as he ran after him.

"MORPH YOU MANIAC!" Magnus ran by with Sunfire. Both had bras on their heads and shoulders.

"YOU ARE A DEAD MAN! HEAR ME! DEAD!" Sunfire powered up and used her heat blasts on him.

"YEOW!" Morph screamed.

BOOM!

"And there goes yet **another **wall," Jean groaned. "When are these Exiles leaving?"

"Not soon enough for me. Except for Rachel I wouldn't mind seeing them go," Scott said. "These guys have been nothing but trouble since they got here!"

"Your group is not exactly an example of restraint either!" Joseph walked in covered in shaving cream. "Is it always this **mad** around here?"

"What happened?" Scott asked in a resigned tone.

"Some of your team mates and some of the Misfits are involved in a heavy dispute over which teen singer has more talent," Joseph told them. "Some say Ashley Simpson, others say Brittany Spears. Personally after listening to the two of them caterwauling and seeing them roll around like animals in heat on their videos, I suggested that **neither **one had any talent whatsoever!"

"And they let you know just what they thought of your opinions?" Scott sighed.

"Got it in one," Joseph wiped some more of the shaving cream off him. "And as soon as I clean up I am going to **give **them one!"

"Run! Run!" Kurt shouted to Nocturne as they ran by. "Hurry before it goes off!"

"Before **what **goes off?" Scott shouted.

"Nothing!" They shouted.

"KURT!" Kitty screamed. She was covered in cake. "You are so dead Elf boy!"

"She did it!" Kurt pointed to Nocturne as they ran off.

"It was **your** idea!" Nocturne shouted back. Kitty ran after them screaming.

Before they could recover Shipwreck ran by with Ororo chasing him. "MINE! ALL MINE!" He crowed as he twirled a bra around.

"DIE!" Ororo shouted as she started throwing lighting bolts at him.

"Yeah it's pretty much a typical day here," Scott said.

"It's episodes like this that make me wonder if giving up being a villain may not have been such a smart idea after all," Joseph grumbled.

"All right we need to gather everyone together," Xavier said as he approached them with Mimic.

"Who blew up what now?" Jean sighed.

"I'm afraid it's a bit more serious than that Jean," Xavier said.

"We have a problem," Mimic said. "Actually you guys have a problem…"

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"So you're saying this Leech kid could be indirectly responsible for half the world being nuked?" Lance's jaw dropped. The Misfits, Exiles and X-Men were all together in the living room where Mimic told them everything.

"For some reason that doesn't disturb me nearly as much as there is a rogue section of the government responsible for constructing a mutant concentration camp," Xi folded his arms.

"That's only because you guys think explosions are fun," Sam said.

"Aren't they?" Fred asked.

"Obviously it's imperative that we find Dorian Leech quickly," Xavier folded his hands. "Before things get out of hand."

"So where do we look first?" Nocturne asked.

"Actually **you **aren't going to look anywhere," The Timebroker appeared among them. "It's time for you to bring Rachel and Joseph Magneto back to his home dimension."

"Already?" Rachel asked. "But…What about the problem with the Leech boy?"

"Yeah I thought we had to take care of that?" Nocturne asked.

"Since you told them everything," Timebroker said. "They have the chance and information needed to stop the disaster from happening. They have the potential to fix their own dimension. It's no longer the Exiles' responsibility."

"So what you're saying is that we just passed the buck and made it **their** problem," Morph grinned. "And we can't interfere with it. I can live with that."

"In other words we're on our own!" Rogue threw up her hands. "Figures!"

Rachel looked at Scott and Jean. "Do we have to leave now?"

"I'm afraid so," Timebroker said.

"Can we at least say goodbye?" Jean asked. Scott put his arm around her.

"Of course," Timebroker said. "But don't be long."

"I guess this is it then," Rachel looked at Jean and Scott. "I…I'm going to miss you."

"We're gonna miss you too," Scott said and hugged Rachel. "You take care of yourself."

"I'll wear your bracelet," Rachel said to Jean showing her the crystal bracelet she got the other day. "So I'll never forget."

"Who knows?" Jean said as she hugged her. "Maybe we'll see each other again. And maybe…Just maybe we'll create a future where you can be safely born into."

"You know Rachel will be with another version of you two," Magnus said. "It's not like she'll be completely without her family."

"Yeah, but its not going to be the same," Rachel sighed.

"I hope not," Joseph grumbled.

"Well so long everybody!" Morph waved. "I know it won't be the same around here without us."

"Yeah it'll be better!" Scott snapped.

"So long, **do** forget to write," Bobby said.

"You're still mad about those hamsters I put in your bed aren't you?" Nocturne asked.

"Do I want to know?" Xavier looked at Logan.

"Trust me you don't…" Logan sighed.

"Farewell X-Men, Misfits," Joseph said as the Exiles and their two charges prepared to leave. "I wish I could say this has been fun. Which it hasn't…"

"Goodbye!" Sunfire waved. The Exiles disappeared with the Timekeeper.

"Good riddance!" Logan groaned. "Like we don't have enough people trashing this place!"

"Yeah that's our job," Todd said.

"Look at the bright side," Scott said. "At least we have our basement back. What's left of it."

**Next: The X-Men prepare for another chapter in their lives as the Hellfire Club gains a new ally. Here we go again. **


	10. Nocturnal Musings and Wanderings

**Nocturnal Musings and Wanderings**

It was late at night and Kitty sat in her pajamas and a bathrobe watching TV. She was idly flipping through the channels. Lockheed was sitting with his head on her lap as she watched TV.

"More calls for Mutant Registration were made by demonstrators at the capitol building. Activists say…"

CLICK

"In sports today the National Football League is the latest sports organization to institute mandatory genetic testing for all players. This is in response to allay the public's fears of players being mutants, especially after the Levon Bronson scare. Even though two tests proved that Bronson was human, there are still rumors dogging him of mutations…"

CLICK

"In Chicago the disappearance of a woman and her mutant son has been ruled as a possible homicide. Police aren't disclosing the identities of the victims saying…"

CLICK

"Around the world another instance of the mutant menace made the news. This time in France where a reported mutant thief known only as Fantomex allegedly stole…"

CLICK

"Another Hulk rampage in the Midwest. This time the mutated menace..."

CLICK

"Senator Chet Masterson is calling for another attempt of the Mutant Registration Bill. And with his support it seems that it may actually pass…"

CLICK

"In Cuba the latest shipment of alleged mutants and other dissidents were deported today. Cuba has become the fourth country in the world where it is no longer legal for mutants to live there. Cuba joins North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Latvertia as nations with a non-tolerance policy towards mutants. Dr. Doom, the dictator ofLatvertia praised Cuba for it's…"

CLICK

"Lawyers for the Friends of Humanity are arguing against allowing any mutant immigrants from legally entering the United States. The Supreme Court will hear the case next week when…"

CLICK

"Tomorrow afternoon the trial of William Stryker will continue. Stryker you may remember was a fundamentalist preacher and the founder of the Purity movement who is linked to several mutant deaths as well as the creation of more mutants in New York City. On a day that is now infamously known as 'Stryker Sunday', Stryker attempted to murder all the mutants in New York City. Instead he ended up activating hundreds of dormant X-Genes which caused more people to turn into mutants. He was stopped by the combined efforts of the mutant teams the Misfits and the X-Men. Several members of the X-Men are scheduled to testify tomorrow about their ordeals with Stryker including Professor Charles Xavier."

"Even though Stryker is the leader of an anti-mutant group and has preached segregation between mutants and humans, many people associate him with the very people he speaks against."

Shots of several people on the street followed. "Claremont Street used to be a beautiful neighborhood," One woman said. "Now there's like at least a dozen freaks that live on the block. All of 'em showed up on Stryker Sunday. That streets not safe to go in at night or even during the day anymore! It's terrible. Terrible."

"For some guy who claims he's gonna help humanity he made things even worse!" A cab driver said. "For all we know maybe he's actually working with the freaks. You know?"

"That Stryker dude is a total moron," One lanky youth punk grumbled. "I mean if you're gonna make something that kills off those genejokes make sure it works first! What an idiot."

"He's not the only one," Kitty growled as she shut off the TV. Lockheed echoed her sentiment.

"It never gets old does it?" Logan grumbled as he walked in. "All the news has to do is mention the word 'mutant' and the ratings go up."

"I couldn't sleep," Kitty said.

"I can't say I blame you," Logan sat down next to her. "Wanna talk about it?"

"What's there to say? I'm going to end up on the six o'clock news again after I go to court," Kitty ran her fingers through her hair. "I can't believe I forgot about all this."

"Yeah it did kind of sneak up on us with everything else going on," Logan said. He took a whiff. "Looks like we're not the only late owls."

"You couldn't sleep either huh?" Scott asked as he walked in.

"No," Kitty shook her head. "Just thinking about tomorrow and testifying…I'm really freaked out."

"At least it's a closed court," Scott told her. "No cameras."

"Still the thought of being in the same room with Stryker again…" Kitty shuddered.

"I know," Scott sighed. "I still get chills just thinking about what he did to me and Ororo. Not to mention the Professor."

"I'm not exactly over the experience myself," Xavier wheeled in. "I don't think anyone is going to get a decent night's sleep tonight."

"If **you're** on edge things are a lot worse than we thought," Logan said.

"After what happened," Xavier sighed. "Remembering what Stryker did to me and forced me to do to all of you, and what nearly happened…I still feel very vulnerable."

"Look Charles," Logan said. "Even if they didn't count the kidnapping and murder charges **or** the illegal weapon charges, there is no way Stryker is gonna get off the hook. The one thing in our favor is that people blame him for what happened in New York. For once, it's folks' hatred of mutants that's gonna help us."

"Yes, I saw the news reports," Xavier sighed. "Almost everyone but his most hardcore followers blames Stryker for the emergence of more mutants. Even the FOH is trying to keep their distance from him and Purity."

"That's what they're calling their little group now huh?" Logan frowned.

"Purists, Purity…" Jean grumbled as she walked in with Rogue. "It's still the same hate mongers no matter which way you slice it."

"Looks like nobody's getting any sleep tonight," Rogue said.

"How can anybody sleep with all **this **going on?" Jean asked. "I can barely go to classes at the University with all the harassment. And it's getting worse. Quite frankly, we spend more time fighting for our lives and petty annoyances than doing anything positive and I've **had it!**" She picked up a pillow and threw it at the wall.

"Jean you're just tired," Logan began.

"You bet I'm tired," She glared at Xavier. "I'm tired of all of us just taking it and not being able to do **anything **about it!"

"Logan, could you take the girls upstairs please?" Xavier asked. "Jean and I need to be alone."

"Yeah, come on," Logan herded them out of the room. Even Lockheed followed.

"Jean obviously we need to have a talk," Xavier sighed.

"You bet we do," Jean glared at him. "The only reason I haven't brought it up sooner was because of Rachel and the others. You knew didn't you? You knew all about this power I'm supposed to have. Or might get."

"Yes," Xavier admitted. "It was one of the visions I had from my experience with Apocalypse."

"And when were you going to tell me about this?" Jean asked. "Just before or **after **I went out of control?"

"Jean, you have to understand," Xavier began. "I thought it was for the best that…"

"That what? I go about my daily life knowing **nothing **about how dangerous I could be? How badly my powers could get out of control? How I could possibly hurt my friends and destroy everything we're working for?" Jean began. "I mean, I always knew I had to be careful, but until I met Rachel I had no idea how much potential I really had! And how dangerous tapping into that potential without knowing the risks could be!"

"Which is exactly why I thought it was best not to tell you," Xavier said. "Already this is causing you strain. You have enough to deal with what with going to college and getting your medical degree as well as your duties as an X-Man. I didn't want to burden you with even more hardship."

"In case you haven't noticed Professor, I'm not that scared sixteen year old girl that couldn't even stop reading other people's thoughts or making everything that wasn't nailed down float around the room!" Jean said. "I have worked long and hard on my gifts and I have used them in ways I could never imagine. If you remember correctly I even used them to take you on while you were controlled by Apocalypse! If there is any chance my powers could get out of control I need to know about it."

"And what would you do then Jean?" Xavier asked.

"Work on getting better control! What else?" Jean snapped.

"Jean the control you have over your powers is already impressive," Xavier said.

"But it could be better," Jean said. "I got only a glimpse of the power Rachel possessed but it was enough. Even she had a better handle on her powers than I do now, and she was emotionally unstable!"

"Perhaps you're right."

"I know I'm right. At least **now **I know what I'm in for."

"Do you?"

"Yes," Jean told him, secretly not believing it herself.

"Jean I don't think you do. I don't think any of us do," Xavier said.

"So your solution to the whole thing was just try and forget about it and hope it would never happen?" Jean asked throwing up her hands. "Oh well **that's **responsible!"

"I've been working on precautions…"

"Well one of them certainly should have been informing me about them!" Jean snapped. "These are my powers and it's **my life!** I have a **right **to know about these things!"

"I just didn't know if you were ready for this," Xavier admitted.

"Just like you didn't know if we would be ready to know Mystique was our principal?" Jean asked. "Or that you were working with or had contacts with other mutants we had **no idea** about? Or you had a half brother that wanted to kill you and destroy everything in its path? Not to mention your other past relationships which came back with a vengeance! No offense Professor, but that line is starting to get a little old."

She walked out of the room, still angry. Xavier shook his head. Kitty, Logan and Rogue had listened in from the other room. "Whoa…" Rogue whispered. "I've never seen Jean tell off the Professor like that."

"She's really spooked about what she saw in Rachel's head," Logan remarked. "And I can't say I blame her."

"The thought of all of us being hunted down and caged like Rachel told us," Kitty shivered. "Or worse…It gives me the creeps."

"They're already doing it in some countries," Rogue said. "Who's to say here won't be next?"

"That won't happen," Logan told them. "We won't let it happen."

"I hope you're right Logan," Kitty sighed. "I pray to God you're right."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"I hope you're right about this," Senator Masterson grumbled into his phone. "Listen I've already been through this with your boss. Don't take that tone with me. Trust me, we'll push the Mutant Registration Bill and have those freaks rounded up. It's just a matter of time. Like those freaks would dare try and scare me! Let 'em try! Yeah see you tomorrow."

The fifty something heavyset senator hung up the phone and went back to work shuffling his papers. "Damn freaks, let 'em try to stop me."

"All right, we will…"

"What the…?" Senator Masterson saw a figure covered completely in black walk confidently through the door. "You…You…"

"Shut up," The figure spoke sternly. "This won't take long."

The Senator felt like a vice was gripping his head tightly. He couldn't breathe. "What are you…?"

"I'm telepathically getting all the information I need out of that diseased brain of yours," The figure said. "Including the numbers of a few hidden bank accounts. Really Senator."

"You'll…never…" He felt very sick.

"Get away with this? Your staff is asleep. When they wake up they'll find you had a brain hemorrhage. Very painful way to die. But definitely non mutant related," The figure said as the Senator collapsed dead to the ground. The figure started to rifle through his desk, grabbed a few papers then opened the window. She swung on a tree outside and took off, easily escaping to a limo parked just outside the gates.

"How did it go?" Emma Frost asked as the figure got into the limo.

"Mission accomplished," The figure removed her hood to reveal the face of a teenage African American girl with long crimped hair and hardened brown eyes. "The Senator will not stand in our way any more. Plus I've gotten some interesting files and information." She handed her what she had taken from the office.

"Excellent my dear," Emma grinned from inside the limo. "But then what else could I expect from you daughter?"

**What? What did she say? Find out about Emma's newest Hellion next chapter! Oh and in case you were wondering, the title Evolution XMJ is just something I thought of that has the intials of the X-Men, Misfits and Joes. Weird huh? **


	11. Like Water for Poison

**Like Water for Poison**

"It's going to be an adjustment, I know," Emma told her pupil. "But I think you'll find this to be a lively if not challenging environment."

The young girl from last night sat in her seat. She was wearing the school uniform of the Hellfire Academy. "Don't worry. I won't let you down."

"I know you won't," She grinned. _"Come in Evan."_

"Man it's weird when you do that," Evan said as he walked in. He was without his spikes and was wearing his school uniform. "I didn't even have to knock."

"Yvonne this is Evan Daniels, otherwise known as Spyke," Emma introduced. "He is the leader of the Hellions and will show you around. Evan…"

"Yes Ms. Frost," Evan nodded respectfully. "Come on. I'll show you around."

Yvonne stood up and went with Evan. "This way's the rec. room for the Hellions," Evan said. "So…You're a telepath?"

"Technically yes," Yvonne said. "However my telepathy has a certain…side effect."

"Yeah I know. Miss Frost told me. She also told me about…Your past," Evan said. "The whole story. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. She only told me because as squad leader I gotta know everything I can about my team. But this stays between you and me. The rest of the team is a bit full of themselves and they can be…Judgmental."

"And what do **you **think of me?" Yvonne asked, looking him in the eye.

"Hey, I'm not exactly innocent of a lot of things myself," Evan told her. "I don't have the right to judge you."

"You're probably the only one," Yvonne said.

"Well the Hellions may not be the warmest group in the world," Evan said. "But I owe Ms. Frost a lot."

"I owe her everything," Yvonne said softly.

They went into the recreation room where most of the Hellions were relaxing. "Everyone listen up!" Evan called out. "We have a new member of the team. Where's Catseye and Jetstream?"

"Watching TV in the other room," Beef said. "They just don't get the beauty of the Ozbornes!"

"This is Yvonne Frost," Evan told the group. "She's Doug's replacement. Well technically Doug and Empath…"

"Frost?" Beef thought. "I thought the other Frost sister was called Cordelia?"

"She is," Yvonne said. "Ms. Frost is my mother. My adopted mother anyway."

"Wait a minute…" Bevatron said. "I thought Catseye was Frost's adopted daughter."

"That too…" Yvonne grumbled.

"SISTER!" Catseye bounded into the room and embraced Yvonne in a bone-crushing hug. "SISTER!"

"Oh no…" Yvonne grumbled.

"HAPPY DAY! SISTER IS HERE!" Catseye whirled her around.

"Sharon knock it off!" Yvonne shouted. "Somebody make her stop!"

"SISTER! SISTER!"

"Why can't I be an only child?" Yvonne groaned. "PUT ME DOWN!"

"Sorry!" Catseye let her go and jumped up and down. "I'm just happy to have my sister here!"

"Whoopee," Beef whirled his finger. "So what exactly do you do?"

"She's telepathic," Evan began. "Which will give us an edge in battle."

"Like **I** don't?" Monet bristled.

"No, you don't," Tarot remarked. Monet glared at her.

"So she's a telepath, big deal," Bevatron waved.

"I'm a little more than that," Yvonne said. "I'm a toxic telepath."

"A what?" Beef asked. "What the heck is that?"

"To put it in the simplest terms my telepathy causes a violent chemical reaction within my victim's brain if I enter his or her mind for longer than a minute," Yvonne said. "And even under the time limit it can cause…Complications."

"You mean, your telepathy literally **poisons** people?" Bevatron gulped. "Oh…Goody."

"Not so smart alecky **now **are you?" Catseye snickered. "Why you think her codename is Celandine?"

"Cella what?" Beef scratched his head.

"Celandine," Warpath grunted. "It's a poisonous plan you moron."

"Oh," Beef blinked. "Well then why don't you call yourself Poison Ivy or something?"

"Because it's **already **been done you **half wit!" **Yvonne glared at him.

"Well I see you are all getting along," Emma walked in. "But I'm afraid I must cut this meeting short."

"What is it?" Yvonne asked.

"The Inner Circle needs your services again Celandine," Emma informed her. "For a mission in Europe."

"Already?" Yvonne sighed. "Very well. I'll go prepare. I know my uniform is in my room."

"Do you need help finding it?" Evan asked. Tarot suddenly glared at him but he didn't notice.

"No, I'm fine," Yvonne told him then left the room. Tarot glared at Evan then walked into the next room.

"Uh, Spyke something tells me you need to have a talk with Tarot," Emma frowned. "Now."

"Huh? Why?" Evan asked.

"Dude, we all saw that look you gave what's her name," Warpath told him. "I may not be a telepath but even I can tell what a girlfriend thinks when she sees you looking at another woman."

"Oh boy…" Evan knew he had to patch things up fast. He went into the next room and found Tarot fuming. "Marie…"

"So you're cozening up to Frost's adopted daughter huh?" Tarot snapped. "It figures."

"It's not what you think," Evan sighed.

"Is it?" Tarot snapped.

"Oh for crying out loud," Evan said. "I'm just trying to be her friend."

"Friend? **Friend?** That's an interesting way to put it," Tarot glared at him. "The look you gave her was not that of a friend!"

"Okay so she's cute! I noticed it! That doesn't mean I'm gonna go after her! I have a girl I really love now!"

"From what I've heard of your past it's never stopped you before!" Tarot turned away.

"Tarot those days are behind me!" Evan grabbed her arm. "You're the one I want! Just because I'm nice to a pretty girl doesn't mean I'm trying to make time with her. Besides she has enough problems without any romantic triangles going on."

"What do you mean by that? Why? What happened with her?"

"Look, I can't tell you the details but she's had it really rough," Evan said. "Just try to be nice to her, okay?"

"All right, for you," Tarot put her arms around him.

"Come on, we'd better get back," Evan said. "Something tells me Celandine isn't the only one on a mission."

They walked back in to see Emma telling the group. "This time we're going to deal with Cypher once and for all and bring him back to the fold."

"Yeah like we need her to get **that **loser," Bevatron grunted. "Of course if Spyke here hadn't screwed up in the first place…"

"You didn't exactly do that well either if I recall," Evan glared at him. He looked at Emma. "You know we can't attack the Institute directly. I mean look what happened less than a few weeks ago…"

"Yeah and Magneto's crew only had to deal with half their forces," Warpath agreed.

"Yes, but he can't stay in the mansion forever," Emma said. "The next time he leaves, which my sources tell me will be soon…"

"We'll grab him," Monet said. "If the X-Fools don't put up too much of a fight."

"Yeah right," Evan grunted.

"If that fails we'll try a more indirect route," Emma said. "We'll borrow Switch from the Epsilon team."

"Switch?" Bevatron blinked. "That chick is crazier than I am!"

"Remember what she did at the last dance we had?"Warpath shouted. "I still have nightmares!"

"I dunno," Beef shrugged. "I kind of enjoyed it."

"You would!" Warpath snapped.

"He enjoyed it a little too much for my tastes!" Roulette snapped.

"Don't worry," Emma said. "I've given her specific instructions to only use her power on me and…Well whomever I choose."

"Wait a minute…You're not gonna do what I think you're gonna do…" Evan looked at her.

"I'm hoping it doesn't come down to it," Emma said. "But if all else fails…"

"Hey!" Jetstream ran in. "Guys! You'll never guess what happened! There was some kind of breakout at Stryker's trial!"

**Who's Switch? What's her power? What is Emma's plan? What secrets does Yvonne have in her past? And what happened with Stryker? Find out next chapter. **


	12. Another Showdown With Stryker

**Another Showdown with Stryker**

"Professor I'm scared," Danielle shuddered as they pulled up to the courthouse.

"It's going to be all right Danielle," Xavier said calmly. "They're just going to ask you what happened. Just tell the truth and don't lose your temper and you'll be fine."

In the limo were Xavier, Kitty, Ororo, Jean, Scott and Danielle with Logan driving. "Easier said than done, Charles," Logan growled. "With all these flamin' reporters around here." True enough there was a huge pack of them all over. "It's like…" He stopped himself.

"Like Evan's trial all over again?" Ororo sighed. "You're right, it is."

"More like a circus," Scott bristled.

"Well the court itself is closed, thank goodness," Jean sighed. "Better brace ourselves."

As they emerged from the limo reporters shouting questions barraged them. "Is it true that you threatened Stryker's life?" One shouted.

"Mr. Xavier is it true that you are part of some kind of hidden agenda as the Reverend Stryker claims?"

"Girls! Did you make that story up about you being hunted by Purity agents?"

"Is it true you're planning on using your powers on Stryker at the trial?"

"Did you actually know what Stryker was planning? Did you know his plans would backfire?"

"How are you feeling as you confront the man who tortured you and planned the deaths of all the mutants in New York?"

"HOW DO YOU **THINK** THEY FEEL?" Logan roared. "WHAT THE HELL KIND OF STUPID QUESTION IS THAT? BACK OFF YOU VULTURES!"

Eventually they made their way inside. "Does anybody else feel like they're going to completely lose it?" Kitty muttered as they finally entered a room where they would wait until being called to testify.

"I think we're all on edge," Scott told her. "Maybe we should talk about something else to get our minds off of the trial?"

"If that's possible," Kitty sighed.

"Did you have any luck finding Leech?" Jean asked Xavier.

"No," Xavier sighed. "I'm afraid not. I've programmed Cerebro to alert me the next time he uses his powers."

"As if we didn't have enough to worry about," Logan grumbled. "This trial, lawsuits, the governments of the world wanting to either kill us or use us, Magneto and the Hellfire Club with the Bio-Pulse, the Hellfire Club going after Cypher…Now we gotta prevent a freaking nuclear holocaust too!"

Kitty tried to focus on the conversation but found her mind wandering. For a long time she had tried to forget the events with Stryker. They had kept replaying in her nightmares for weeks before she went to the Professor for help. The counseling had worked but now she felt as shaky as she did when the nightmare started.

Soon they were called in and they sat down in the back of the court. Even though there were no cameras Kitty still felt uncomfortable. She tried to focus on what she had to say but she still felt sick to her stomach. To see Stryker again…

Then he entered the court. Kitty's face was emotionless as he was brought in shackles. Part of her was glad. But the rest of her was slightly terrified to confront him again. _What if that first time I told him off was a fluke? What if I can't do this again? I can't do this! I want to phase out of this court and run away. _

Stryker glared directly at her and she felt the hairs on her neck bristle. _No, I can do this! I have to do this! I can't let this lunatic hurt people again. I can't let him hurt the Professor again. I can't let hurt me again. I have to do this…_

_**Kitty are you all right? **_She felt the Professor's mind touch hers.

**_Fine Professor, I'm just a little stressed that's all…_**Kitty took a deep breath.

**_I understand. To tell the truth I'm a bit nervous myself. Just remember, he can't hurt you anymore,_** The Professor sent back.

_That's right. He can't hurt me anymore. _Kitty breathed.

The next hour felt like an eternity to her. The court went through the proceedings slowly and methodically. Kitty blocked it out. She knew Stryker was staring at her but she refused to acknowledge him. Part of her was terrified but another part of her wanted to do something violent to the man who tortured her friends and nearly killed her. Trying not to lose control of herself and retain composure was hard. It was the only thing she could focus on.

Then she was called to the stand to testify. She walked to the witness stand without a trace of hesitation or fear. There was almost an air of dignity going up there. _I can do this. I can do this. _She kept telling herself as she placed her hand on the bible and took the oath.

"MUTANT FILTH!" Stryker screamed as he nearly leapt out of his shackles. "HOW DARE YOU BLASPHEME THE HOLY WORD OF GOD WITH YOUR IMPURE HAND?"

Rage rose in Kitty's body. "HE'S MY GOD TOO YOU BIGOTED…"

"ORDER! ORDER!" The judge pounded his gavel. "There will be order in this courtroom!"

BOOM!

All of the sudden the room was filled with some kind of smoke. People were screaming. Her vision was impaired and the smoke started to burn her lungs. "What the…" Kitty coughed and instinctively phased through the wall into the next room where there was fresh air. She fell down onto the floor coughing. She heard a gasp and looked up. She was in a conference room where she saw a lawyer and a startled client try to get dressed again from the table they were on.

"Oh my god…Sorry…" Kitty managed to get up and back away. "Sorry…Sorry…" She phased out the door.

She backed out only to notice the commotion in the hallway. She saw a glimpse of Stryker being hustled away by several people in black. "No…" Kitty realized that Stryker was attempting a breakout. "NO!"

"Kitty!" Jean shouted as she came out of the courtroom with the other X-Men. "Where…?"

"He's getting away!" Kitty shouted as she ran after them.

"Kitty! Wait!" She could hear Scott shouting behind her.

Kitty didn't pay attention. All she could think about was catching Stryker. She literally phased through people and walls in order to follow them. She didn't pay attention to anything else but Stryker.

_How are they going to get out of this building? They're going upwards so that means…THE ROOF! _

She had to get to the roof before they did. They were taking the stairs. She couldn't take the elevator; it might be too slow. But she could still follow them. Remembering her training she levitated herself through the walls upwards. She had done it before only in short distances. But if she concentrated hard enough…

Up, up, up she went through the concrete and wood. She could feel the strain on her mind and lungs but she refused to stop. _Just a little more… Just a few feet more…_

The sight of the sky and the feeling of fresh air welcomed her. Her relief was short lived as she saw Stryker and his team jump into a helicopter. "Until another time Pryde!" Stryker laughed. "Then there shall be a reckoning!"

Rage fueled Kitty as she ran. The Helicopter was already several feet in the air. Some gunmen were shooting at her but thanks to her powers their bullets missed. "No…No…" Kitty pushed herself and felt a strength grow inside her. A strength born of determination and rage. She leapt into the air and used her powers to rise. She willed herself to move upwards. She could almost feel her feet crunching the molecules of the air and using them as steps to rise upwards. In a few seconds it would be too late. The helicopter would rise too fast and fly away. She would not let that happen.

_Just a few more inches._

_Faster._

_A little more…_

_I can do this!_

The look on Stryker's face as she phased her head and hands through the helicopter floor was priceless.

"NOT TODAY!" Kitty screamed as she phased Stryker through the aircraft. "NOT TODAY!"

"ARE YOU INSANE?" Stryker screamed as they fell through the sky. "YOU'LL KILL US BOTH!"

"NO! JUST **YOU!"** Kitty screamed as she held onto him.

"Kitty no!" Jean screamed and she felt herself stop falling. Before she realized it she and Stryker were being lowered to the rooftop by Jean's telekinesis.

"You witch!" Stryker hissed as the guards ran up and grabbed him. "You ruined everything!"

"Save it, Stryker! You haven't **begun** to pay for what you've done," Kitty glared at him. "So don't think you're going to get off easy!"

"VENGANCE SHALL BE MINE MISS PRYDE!" Stryker screamed as he was dragged away. "ON YOU AND YOURS! VENGANCE SHALL BE MINE!"

"Kitty are you okay?" Jean put her hand on her shoulder.

"No…Not really…I mean," Kitty shuddered. She saw the X-Men had all managed to make it to the roof by using the elevator.

"Kitty I didn't know you could move through the air like that," Danielle blinked.

"Neither did I," Kitty was starting to feel rather shaken. "It was like I could literally walk on the air."

"Your phasing powers are more complex than we thought," Xavier said. "Scott, Jean take the girls inside. All right?"

They did so leaving Logan and Xavier alone. "I should have known our dealings with Stryker weren't over," Xavier sighed. "It's lucky Kitty stopped him from escaping."

"Even luckier Jean was here to stop Kitty. She was gonna do it Charles," Logan whispered. "I saw that look in her eye. Stryker's gotten under her skin."

"You know what's worse, Logan?" Charles whispered back. "Part of me was hoping she would do it. It was Jean that stopped her, not me. I didn't even **want** to stop her."

"I guess that's 'cause out of all our enemies he's the one who hurt us the most," Logan sighed. "Well, besides the Porcupine but still…"

"I thought we were all over Stryker and what he did to us," Xavier sighed. "I was wrong. And I fear Kitty is suffering worst of all."

"What worries me is that Stryker thinks she ain't suffering enough," Logan frowned.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"I'm sorry sir," The guard said. "I was so sure it would work." The two of them were riding alone in the back of the prison transport vehicle. Stryker was in chains.

"It's not your fault Thomas," Stryker said. "Perhaps it was not God's will that I be released from my confinement. I must serve more penance for my failure."

"Don't say things like that!" Thomas said. "We can try again. The next time…"

"No, Thomas, you must do your duty and guard me faithfully," Stryker said. "At least I can talk to you and the others and continue my mission to the poor souls back at the prison. And through you and the others I can communicate with my flock."

"If it wasn't for that damn mutie…" Thomas hissed.

"Yes, perhaps we've underestimated Miss Pryde…" Stryker said with a growl. "That will be rectified. Thomas I need you to get a message to Disciple One. Tell him no more rescue attempts."

"But sir…"

"Let me finish. From now on the X-Men are our number one priority. We must gather information and do all we can to bring them down. Starting with the most dangerous of them all, the She Devil Shadowcat…"

"Actually Sir," Thomas grinned. "We do have some rather…interesting news. We've been investigating her family life and it's quite…Well depraved is the best word I can use to describe it."

"Oh really?" Stryker grinned. "Do tell…"

**Now what does Stryker have planned? Find out by reading! Next: Doug goes home to confront his family and things go from bad to worse when the Hellions come calling! **


	13. You Really Can't Go Home Again

**You Really Can't Go Home Again**

"Geeze I thought Stryker was hard enough to deal with yesterday," Bobby whispered to Kitty.

"Tell me about it," Kitty whispered back. "So much for this taking my mind off my problems."

"Mom, Dad I **am** a mutant," Doug said to his parents in their living room. "Xavier's is the best place fore me now." It was the following day and Xavier, Kitty, Bobby, Ororo and Nick Fury were there at Doug's parents' house.

"This is unbelievable what you've told me," Mr. Ramsey shook his head.

"That's why I've come here," Fury said. "To back up what Xavier is saying."

"Yeah it's not every day that the head of a secret spy agency visits your house and tells you your son is a mutant," Kitty said. "I mean it's really not that bad."

"Young lady you are the **last** person I want to hear from right now," Mr. Ramsey glared at Kitty.

"It was hard enough hearing about your uncle," Mrs. Ramsey sniffed into her tissue. "Having an affair with…But **this**…This **can't **be happening."

"I'm afraid it's true Mom," Doug said. "I'm a mutant."

"But you can't be a mutant! You're normal!" She pleaded. "You're not like these people here!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Bobby took offense.

"Not now Bobby," Ororo warned.

"Your mother's right!" Mr. Ramsey said. "You don't have any real powers! Since when is being smart mean you're a mutant? It's insane!"

"Douglas' mutation is a bit more complicated than that," Xavier said.

"And on top of this you're telling me that the school we sent him to is really run by a group of powerful mutants that want to take over the world? That's insane!" Mr. Ramsey said. "Well mutant or not Douglas you are staying home! That's final!"

"Mr. Ramsey as I have explained **eight times** before that is not an option," Fury told him. "Especially with the people from his old school after him. Not to mention any government agency that would use your son's gifts for their own uses."

"Are you saying my son's life is in danger?" Mr. Ramsey shouted.

"I'm afraid so," Xavier told him.

"This is all a hoax," Mr. Ramsey shook his head. "Who would seriously want to hurt my son?"

"I didn't want to show you these," Fury sighed as he took out some pictures. "But I think you'd better see them."

"What the hell are these?" Mr. Ramsey asked. "It looks like it was taken in a war zone?"

"That was the Massachusetts Academy after it was attacked by Purists," Doug said softly. "A lot of people were killed. And I was nearly one of them."

"What?" The color drained from Mrs. Ramsey's face.

"I didn't want to tell you," Doug said. "It was a bad attack. They took us by surprise. I got hurt but I'm okay now."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE OKAY **NOW?**" Mr. Ramsey shot up.

"The X-Men and Misfits helped save your son's life," Ororo explained.

"Well forgive me if I'm not exactly grateful right now!" Mr. Ramsey snapped. "Especially after the mess you people made yesterday with that Stryker nut!"

"We didn't have a choice!" Kitty shot back. "He wants to kill all mutants! Including your son!"

"Unfortunately I helped him with his last plan," Doug admitted. "Indirectly but…"

"Explain this Douglas," Mr. Ramsey glared at him.

"You know that device Stryker made to wipe out all mutants at Madison Square Garden?" Doug said. "Well the Hellfire Club has a prototype very similar to it. Only it was intended to be a weapon of last resort and it was to be used on humans instead."

"It was used on humans in the Purist attack on the Academy," Fury said. "And your son helped build it."

"You mean you worked on that…that thing?" Mr. Ramsey asked. "That thing Stryker used in New York that caused all this trouble?"

"I'm afraid so," Doug admitted. "But I had no idea something like this would happen! I swear! All I did was some of the coding. They said it was only to be used for something as a last resort."

"My God," Mr. Ramsey was shocked. "It's like finding out your son's in the Mafia!"

"It's not Doug's fault," Kitty defended. "He got caught up with the wrong people."

"Understatement of the year," Fury said. His beeper went off. "Oh great. Excuse me." He moved off to the side to read the message. "I have to go. Some kind of emergency back at base. Good thing I brought my own ride here."

"Oh good so we can at least get **one** helicopter off our lawn!" Mr. Ramsey snapped.

"Look I know this is a shock for you people, but face the facts, your son is a wanted mutant," Fury said as he left. "We brought him back here to explain the situation to you and get his things. The safest place for him is the Xavier Institute. Think about it." He left.

"This is **unbelievable!"** Mr. Ramsey snapped. He flinched as he heard the helicopter leave outside. "Oh great! There goes my lawn! You know the neighbors must be loving this! And you know that battle-ax Mrs. McClowsky is going to nag to everyone in town! Biggest gossip I ever knew!"

"Mr. Ramsey with all due respect," Xavier said calmly. "I think your son has bigger problems than what the neighbors are saying about you."

"You know I always thought you were too good to be true," Mr. Ramsey turned on Kitty. "You were a little **too** nice and well behaved, being an A student and everything. I see it now. That was your cover!"

"David please," Mrs. Ramsey sighed to her husband. "Blaming her isn't going to solve anything."

"It's bad enough your father dragged my brother down into a den of perversion," Mr. Ramsey snarled at her. "Now **you've** got your claws into Douglas!"

"Now wait just a damn minute here…" Kitty snapped.

"You can't blame Kitty for what happened with her dad and Uncle Donald!" Doug shouted. "And she had nothing to do with me being a mutant!"

"And she certainly didn't send Doug to that Academy," Mrs. Ramsey added. "David please try and calm down."

"You this reminds me of some of the stunts you pulled when you were little," Mr. Ramsey shouted at Kitty. "This is the car in the pool all over again!"

"I was only four!" Kitty told him. "I didn't mean to back it up into it!"

"You mean you did that to them **too?"** Bobby asked.

"Bobby not now..." Kitty winced.

"Ever since then whenever Douglas has been in any sort of trouble you were the one behind it!" Mr. Ramsey shouted. "The time you got lost on a field trip, the fight with the kid down the street when you were six…Well now you've topped yourself! You are still a bad influence on my son!"

"And she still hasn't improved her driving," Bobby said.

"Not now Bobby," Xavier said. "Mr. Ramsey I understand how upset you are…"

"Upset? Upset? This is just shock I'm experiencing! Let me get my lawyers on the phone and you'll see just how **upset **I am!" Mr. Ramsey shouted.

"The fact remains that Doug is a mutant and all of you were manipulated by the Hellfire Club," Xavier decided to press on. "What needs to be discussed is what's best for Douglas."

"Oh I know what's best for my son Xavier," Mr. Ramsey shouted. "It's to be home with us so we can take care of him. I will not make the same mistake twice and send him of to live with a group of insane freaks!"

"Wait just a minute!" Kitty said. "Mutants are not freaks!"

"Maybe not but **you people** sure as hell are!" Mr. Ramsey shouted. "I saw a lot of your stunts on TV! I read the newspapers! Every time something goes wrong or some maniac starts some world domination or murder spree, boom! There you are! I watched that circus of a trial on TV. I saw what you did yesterday!" He pointed to Kitty. "You nearly killed that man. Okay so he tried to kill you first but still…No, there is no way in hell that I am allowing my son to associate with you **maniacs!** You cause nothing but trouble no matter where you go!"

"THAT IS A LIE!" Kitty shouted, stomping her foot. "WE DO NOT!"

Just then two flaming spikes crashed through the window, barely missing Mr. Ramsey. They imbedded into the couch, which quickly caught fire. "WHAT THE HELL…?" Mr. Ramsey shouted.

Two more spikes crashed through and hit the wall and ignited instantly. "Oh great…" Bobby groaned. "If that's who I think it is…" He used his ice powers to contain one small fire but more spikes were coming in. "HIT THE DECK!" He shoved Doug down.

"Kitty! Get Doug and his parents outside to safety!" Xavier ordered.

"We're getting you out too!" Doug grabbed the handlebars of Xavier's wheelchair. "Out the back way!"

"Iceman and I will handle the Hellions up front," Ororo shouted.

"Who?" Mrs. Ramsey screamed as her house caught on fire.

"The people who are trying to kill your son," Bobby said as he iced up. "You know his former friends?"

"Come on!" Kitty grabbed the Ramsey's arms and phased them through the wall to outside. Then she went back for Doug and the Professor. "We should be safe now."

"Wrong again," Monet was waiting for them in the back with Tarot and Catseye.

"It's time to come back home Dougie," Tarot said.

"I'm not going back with you!" Doug shouted. "I'll never be a Hellion again!"

Meanwhile Bobby had just iced up Beef and Bevatron. A well placed gust of wind and bolt of lightning had knocked down Roulette and Jetstream. "Oh this is just way too…" Bobby shouted with pride before a few fire spikes started melting out Beef and Bevatron. "Easy?"

"Fire melts ice in case you forgot," Evan said, sending out more spikes directly at him.

"Whoa!" Bobby barely dodged them. Bevatron and Beef broke through the ice. "Oh great!"

"Leave him to me!" Ororo flew towards Evan shooting out gusts of wind.

Evan merely increased the spikes on his feet, so that they held him firmly to the ground. "That trick won't work on me Storm!" He shouted. "But I know a good one!"

He sent several fire spikes straight past her. "You missed," Ororo growled.

"Wasn't aiming for you," He pointed behind her. To Ororo's horror the Ramsey's house was in flames.

"Not bad Spyke!" Bevatron laughed. "Maybe you'll burn down the neighborhood?"

"What are you gonna do Storm?" Evan shouted. "You can't fight me and put out that fire at the same time! Or help your friends."

Realization came to Ororo. "It's a trap!"

"If I were you I'd put that fire out before it spreads," Evan grinned. "Doug's a lost cause by now anyway."

Ororo sent out a blast of electricity towards Evan, but he merely increased his bone mass around him, absorbing most of the shock. "Doesn't hurt me too much anymore Auntie O," Evan shouted to her. "I've learned how to use my powers to their full potential! Which is more than I can say for the others!"

Ororo realized that fighting Evan was pointless now. She then focused on the house creating a huge rainstorm. "Iceman! Go help the Professor!"

"Yeah! Go help your friends!" Bevatron laughed as he and the other Hellions decided to leave. "We'll beat you another day!"

"Oh no you don't!" Bobby shouted as he ran after them.

"Iceman! No!" Ororo shouted. However she had a fire to attend to. She also noticed from her position that the others were confronted by the other Hellions. "It never rains but it pours…"

Doug and Kitty dodged the arrow card that Tarot used but Monet flew down and grabbed Doug. "Forget it Doug! I'm not letting you go this time!"

"Help!" Mrs. Ramsey screamed as Catseye transformed into her giant cat form and stalked her and her husband.

"NO!" Xavier used his mental powers to knock out Tarot. Then he focused on Monet. "Let him go!"

"No way Xavier!" Monet hissed as she fought off the attack. "You can't beat me old man…You…AGGGGH!" She screamed as Xavier increased his psychic assault, breaking her mental defenses.

She dropped Doug who fell to the ground screaming. Fortunately Ororo used her powers over the wind to come to his aid. "Thanks Storm," He panted.

"I never thought I'd say this…" Kitty said as she phased through the ground behind Catseye and grabbed her tail. "Here Kitty, Kitty…" She then phased Catseye's tail into the ground trapping her. "Got ya! Yikes!" She barely managed to get out of the way of her claws.

"Turn back into human form you twit!" Monet shouted as she fought off another round of Xavier's attack. She narrowly missed a bolt of lightning. "YIKES! RETREAT!"

Catseye did revert and grabbed Tarot. "Yeah you would say that…" She grumbled as she ran off.

Meanwhile Bobby was having problems of his own as he ran into a wooded area. "Damn it! I lost 'em! Where'd they go?"

"Hey! Over here!" A teenage girl with punked out black and pink hair waved at him as she ran out of the woods. She had a silver nose stud, five piercings in each ear, a pink short-skirted dress with a black mesh top and combat boots on. "Help! Some mutants are attacking my house! Please! Somebody! Help me!"

"What?" Bobby asked.

"You're a good mutant right?" The girl sobbed. "You have to help me! These horrible people are setting fire to my house!"

"What? One wasn't enough for them?" He ran with her to a clearing. "Where's your house? And where are the mutants?"

"Oops! House is gone! But there's one mutant right **here,**" The girl grinned as her eyes glowed a bright pink. "And there's two behind you!"

"What…?" Bobby turned around and saw Emma Frost and Warpath behind him. Warpath hit him hard and he fell to the ground. Then he felt very strange. He opened his eyes and saw Evan running over to them.

"You idiot!" Evan shouted. "You were supposed to get either Kitty or my Aunt!"

"Well excuuuuuussseeee me!" The girl said. "This was the best I could get! You didn't exactly give me much of a selection!"

"Shut up the **both** of you! Fine! We'll just have to make do!" Another voice snapped. But it sounded just like…

"Great, he's still awake…" Warpath said. "But not for long…"

Before he could do anything, he fell back into darkness.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"I can't believe they got away," Kitty grumbled.

"We didn't have a choice to go after them Kitty," Xavier told them. "It was too risky." He looked at the smoldering house behind them. It was completely destroyed.

"MY HOUSE!" Mr. Ramsey screamed. "YOU BURNED DOWN MY HOUSE!"

"Actually the Hellions wrecked the house Dad," Doug said. He heard the sirens coming. "Oh great! **Now** the cops arrive!"

"Where's Bobby?" Ororo looked around.

"Right here!" Bobby ran up to them. "Sorry, the Hellions gave me the slip."

"Well right now we need to go get Doug to safety," Ororo said. "X-Men, come on."

"WAIT A MINUTE! DOUGLAS!" Mrs. Ramsey shouted. "Where are you going?"

"Mom I have to leave! I've put you both in danger," Doug said. "It's me they want."

"My house…" Mr. Ramsey sobbed.

"I'm sorry," Doug said as he left. "I gotta go!"

"DOUGLAS! COME BACK HERE! WHO'S GOING TO PAY FOR MY HOUSE?" Mr. Ramsey shook his fist. "YOU DAMN MUTANTS! WAIT UNTIL MY LAWYER GETS A HOLD OF YOU!"

Over on a hill the Hellions had regrouped and watched the Velocity fly away. "I can't believe there were only four of them and they **still **kicked our butts!" Beef grumbled.

"Five if you count Cypher," Evan said.

"I don't," Monet hissed.

"You should have let me be with her team," Warpath said to Evan. "I would have liked a shot at Old Baldy."

"You'll have to wait another day for that," Evan said.

"Well at least we burned Cypher's house down so it wasn't a total loss," Bevatron shrugged.

"Don't worry," Evan told them. "That was only phase one of the plan. Thanks to Switch, phase two is already in motion." He grinned at the unconscious Emma Frost. "Boy is he gonna have a bad wake up call!"

**Huh? What did Evan mean by that? Find out next chapter if you haven't figured it out already! **


	14. Wake Up Little Bobby

**Wake Up Little Bobby**

"Ow…My head…" Bobby groaned as he stirred. He put his hand to his head and sat up on a bed. He realized he was in some kind of metal cell complete with a sink, toilet and a mirror. "Great! I'm captured again."

"Well looks like Sleeping Bobby's finally awake," Evan grinned from the other side of the bars. He was in his Spyke form and folded his arms. Tarot was next to him.

"Spyke! You are so toast!" Bobby stretched out his hands to form some ice blasts but found that he couldn't do it. "Huh?"

"You have an inhibitor collar on stupid," Tarot said. "Not that it would do you much good anyway."

"Wait a minute?" Bobby noticed that his hands were unusually slender. "What happened to my hands? And my voice and my…" He looked down and saw two things on his chest that were not there before. "AGGGHH!"

"Let's just say you're not exactly yourself today," Evan grinned.

"What the hell?" Bobby looked at himself in the mirror. But he wasn't really himself. He was in Emma Frost's body. "What did you do to me?"

"Actually its what **I **did to you," Switch sashayed from the shadows.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?" Bobby screamed.

"I'm gonna take a wild guess here," Evan said. "Switch put you in Emma Frost's body. That's why we call her Switch. And people call **me **slow?"

"Oh my god…" Bobby was hyperventilating. "Oh my god…" Reflexively he patted his groin to find something that obviously wasn't there. "OH MY GOD!"

"He's not taking it well is he?" Tarot asked.

"I don't know why," Switch shrugged. "I'd kill to have a body like that!"

"GET ME OUT OF HERE!" Bobby snared as he grabbed the bars. "AND I DON'T JUST MEAN THE CELL!"

"Relax Ice-**Babe**," Evan grinned. "You'll be back soon enough. Once Ms. Frost takes care of Cypher."

"Cypher?" Bobby asked.

"Don't worry, she'll just fix up some of those loose memories of his so he won't remember anything," Tarot said. "Then she'll come right back."

"Wait a minute…" Bobby held up his…or rather Emma's hand. "So she's in my body?"

"Yes," Evan said.

"And I'm in her body?"

"Yes."

"So since I'm in her body I don't have my ice powers but her telepathy?"

"Yes that's why we put the collar on you."

"Well then that means…" Bobby grinned. "She doesn't have **her** powers! And the second she walks in the door the Professor will know she's a fake!"

"Normally that would be the case except…" Switch grinned. "Telepaths are a little different. Since their minds operate at a different level than most mutants and technically all humans have some part of their brain that is theoretically capable of telepathy…"

"She still has her powers," Evan cut in. "And now she has yours too."

**"What?"** Bobby shouted.

"Face it Ice Girl, you're stuck here," Evan said. "But don't worry. She'll be back soon."

"Hey I know what will be fun!" Switch clapped her hands. "Let's get him some pretty pink outfits and make him try them on!"

"NO WAY!" Bobby shouted. He looked at the white halter top and white low riding leather pants with high heels. "This is humiliating enough!"

"It certainly is," Evan laughed. "This is my replacement on the X-Men? What a joke!"

"The only joke around here is **you!**" Bobby shouted. "When I get back in my own body you're gonna be a frozen popsicle! And the X-Men are gonna trash your little wanna be group! You really are pathetic! I mean, even the old Brotherhood weren't as big losers as you are!"

"I'm not the one wearing a bra and panties," Evan grinned. "Who's the loser again?"

"Ow!" Bobby groaned. "Ow! What else did you do to me? My stomach…It feels like somebody's grabbing my guts and twisting them into pretzels!"

"Oh that," Tarot snickered. "That's nothing. Ms. Frost just happens to have her period this week."

"WHAT?" Bobby screamed.

"Don't worry," Evan grinned. "I'm sure we can find you some pads or tampons again if you need them."

**"WHAT?" **Bobby screamed louder.

"You know Bevatron was wrong," Tarot grinned. "Switch you didn't screw this up!"

"Let's leave this damsel in distress for now," Evan laughed. "Come on, we have better things to do!" They went off laughing.

"This is **not **happening," Bobby whined as he looked at the body he was currently inhabiting. "I'm a chick! In high heels and…And this outfit makes me look totally fat!"

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

_This is going to be easier than I thought, _Emma thought to herself as the X-Men returned to the mansion. _And this body has such power! I wonder if the boy knows how much potential he really has? _

"Bobby, I want to talk to you," Ororo said as they entered the mansion. "You deliberately disobeyed my orders."

"Sorry Storm," Emma said, pretending to be embarrassed. "I thought I could catch them. I mean I know how much you want Evan to be caught."

"Yes, well as good as your intentions were," Ororo looked at her. "You should have followed my orders. Doug was nearly captured and his parent's house burned down. Saving lives takes precedence over hot dogging."

"I'm really sorry, Storm," Emma feigned her apology. "I won't happen again."

"You bet it won't," Ororo folded her arms. "I think some time in the Danger Room after dinner will help you focus."

"Okay," Emma said. _Stuck up cow…No problem. Hopefully I'll get the job done before then. Even if I don't how hard could it be? _"I gotta go see Doug now. I need his help with some homework."

"Really?" Ororo looked at her. "You've never been eager to do schoolwork before."

"Well, maybe I'm maturing," Emma said. Then she decided to say something in character. "Mature enough to skip a Danger Room session?"

"Nice try," Ororo smirked.

_Yeah, I thought that would do it,_ Emma grinned as he walked away from Ororo _This will be so easy it won't be funny. _

"Bobby! Bobby!" Kitty flagged Emma down while carrying a batch of cookies. "You promised to try my cookies when we got back! Remember?"

"Oh sure Kitty," Emma took one. "I could use a snack after beating up the Hellions." She bit into it and swallowed. "URK!"

"I know it kind of has a weird taste," Kitty said. "This time I put in some tartar sauce, cinnamon hearts, onion dip and chocolate chips. Along with a few other ingredients."

"Like **what?"** Emma gasped. "**Glue? **Because that's what it **tastes **like!"

"You don't have to be so mean about it!" Kitty huffed and walked away.

"Well the next time someone tries to **poison **me I'll remember to be more polite!" Emma shouted. "Ew…My taste buds will never be the same again! What am I saying? Bobby's taste buds will never be the same again!"

"So how are you doing Doug?" She overheard Kurt say.

"Well, I've just outed myself as a mutant to my parents, told them about being involved in creating a dangerous weapon that will make me stay on SHEILD's wanted list for years, got attacked by the Hellions and had my house burned down," Doug said as he rounded the corner with Kurt. "How do you **think** I'm doing?"

"All in all a typical day in the X-Men huh?" Emma smiled as she went up to them.

"Oh Bobby! There you are! Come on! We need to go!" Kurt grabbed her arm. "See you later Doug! We gotta take care of something!"

"Wait!" Emma protested. But before she could say anything Kurt teleported her away. The next thing she knew she was being pelted with whipped cream. Kurt had teleported her into a huge whipped cream fight in the back yard with the Misfits. "Stop it! Stop it!"

Polly flew straight at her. "DIE!" Polly screeched.

"YAAAAHHHH!" Emma screamed as Polly unleashed his unorthodox attack right in her face.

"Eww Polly that's not nice!" Todd winced.

"I'm getting cleaned up!" Emma headed for the nearest bathroom inside as she wiped what mess she could off with her gloves. "Something tells me that Danger Room is going to be a piece of cake compared to this!" Emma muttered to herself.

"BOBBY!"

Emma turned around and found herself face to face with Tabitha who instantly punched her square in the nose. "OW!"

"I warned you what would happen if you iced up the girl's bathroom again!" Tabitha shouted as she kneed Emma in the groin so hard that she fell down on the floor. "Jerk!" She stormed off.

"Ow…" Emma groaned. "That…does…hurt…"

"AAHHHHHHH!" A herd of Jamies ran over her. "GET AWAY FROM ME TRINITY!"

"KISSY KISSY TIME!" Trinity ran over Emma next. "COME BACK AND GIVE YOUR GIRLS SOME LOVIN'!"

"Oh god…" Emma moaned. "Got me…in the groin…again…Ow…Ow…"

"Rrrrrrrrrrr…."

Emma looked up and saw a purple dragon staring at her. Smoke came out of its nostrils straight into her face.

"Uh oh…" Emma instinctively iced up. That's when Lockheed gave her a full blast of fire right in her face. Even in ice mode it still hurt. "AGGGGHHHH!"

She turned back into human form. "I don't know how much more of this I can take…" She hissed. Lockheed hissed at her. "Oh shut up you Barney reject!"

Polly flew back in. "THERE'S THE ENEMY! ATTACK!" He screeched as he dive-bombed Emma. "ATTACK!"

"This place is a **madhouse!**" Emma screamed. "Stop it! Get off me you stupid bird!"

"Geeze what's the problem here?" Shipwreck walked in with Xavier.

"WHAT'S THE PROBLEM?" Emma screamed as Polly backed off. "EVERYONE IS TRYING TO KILL ME THAT'S THE PROBLEM!"

"Shipwreck I think you should take the Misfits home now," Xavier sighed.

"AND TAKE THAT STUPID PARROT WITH YOU!" Emma screamed. That's when Lockheed bit Emma in the leg. "GAAHHHHHH!"

"Lockheed no!" Kitty ran in with several other X-Men and Misfits and grabbed her dragon. "What has gotten into you?"

"FAKE! FAKE!" Polly screeched before Shipwreck shut his beak.

"Okay I think we should all go home now and let Bobby have his little nervous breakdown now," Shipwreck said. Then he and the Misfits teleported away.

"YOU PEOPLE ARE INSANE!" Emma screamed. "OH I KNEW YOU PEOPLE WERE LOW CLASS DERANGED MORONS BUT THIS…"

"Bobby I know you're upset…" Jean began.

"OH PUT A SOCK IN IT!" Emma snapped.

"Bobby this isn't like you," Jubilee said.

"Yeah why are you being more of a jerk than usual?" Rogue asked.

"WHO CARES? YOU'RE ALL A GROUP OF INSANE MANIACS!" Emma screamed. "I MEAN HELLO! I'VE BEEN MAULED BY A DRAGON AND VIOLATED BY A PARROT! WHY WOULDN'T I BE UPSET?"

"But why did the animals just attack Bobby like that?" Kitty asked.

"Guys…" Betsy gulped as her telepathy picked up something as Emma's shields slipped. "That's not Bobby…"

"You're damn right I'm not," Emma growled as Bobby's eyes glowed. "I have **had it!**"

Immediately Emma transformed Bobby's body into an ice form that was twice the size of his usual form. It had large sharp points all over it's back and one hand created a huge ice club while the other created and ice sword. "You've all pushed me around enough today! It's time to give back what I got! In spades!"

"This is not good…" Scott gulped.


	15. Who's Who Again?

**Who's Who Again?**

"Since when could Iceman do **this?"** Scott shouted as he dodged a huge blast of ice breath from Emma's mouth.

"And why's he attacking us?" Jubilee asked as she backed away. "I know Tabitha beat him up but that happens all the time!"

"Thanks for reminding me…" Emma growled. "When I get my hands on that bimbo…" Instinctively she used her new ice powers to create a huge ice shield, strong enough to reflect Scott's eye blasts. "Oh come on! Is this the best you can do? Try this!"

Emma created a huge barrage of ice spikes from both sides of Bobby's body. Some spikes were so strong they made holes in the walls.

"What the…?" Doug gasped as a huge ice spike burst through the room he was in. He ran out and saw what he thought was Bobby on the rampage. "Oh boy…"

"Geeze why is Bobby acting so nuts?" Jubilee asked as the X-Men dodged her attack.

"I don't think that's Bobby in there," Betsy said.

"She's right!" Jean said. "I sense another presence inside…"

"Time to cut whoever it is down to size!" Logan charged only to have his feet frozen solid by Emma.

"X-MEN YOU ARE ALL GOING TO…" Emma began. Then she felt funny. Very funny in the very sick way.

RRRUMMMBBBLSSPPPPLURRRRRRRRTTTTTTTT!

"What was that?" Kitty asked.

"I think it's Bobby's stomach," Rogue blinked.

"Oh god…" Emma clutched her stomach. "What's happening to me?" Immediately she reverted back to Bobby's normal form and started to vomit in a corner.

The X-Men stared at the sudden change. "Kitty by any chance did you happen to give Bobby one of your cookies you made?" Logan asked as he freed himself.

"Yeah, how did you know?" Kitty asked.

"Oh just a hunch," Logan winced as Emma continued vomiting.

"Well I guess Kitty's cooking is useful after all," Kurt grinned.

"Shut up Kurt!" Kitty snapped.

Emma stopped vomiting. "Good…I feel better now."

"Well I'll take care of that!" Logan gave her a blow knocking her unconscious. Of course she landed in her own vomit. "Will somebody please tell me what's wrong with the kid…Besides the obvious I mean?"

"It's weird," Jean said. "I sense another presence in Bobby's mind. Or just one weird one."

"You think Legion's trying to implant false personalities again?" Rogue asked.

"No I only sense one mind in his body, not two," Xavier frowned. "A very familiar one. Emma Frost."

"The White Witch herself?" Logan asked. "But how…?"

"Switch!" Doug shouted.

"Who?" Kitty asked.

"It's gotta be Switch's work!" Doug said.

"What does a Disney character have to do with this?" Jamie asked.

"Not **Stitch**," Doug rolled his eyes. "**Switch!** She's this nut ball who has the power to transport anyone's consciousness into anyone else's body and vice versa."

"You mean…?" Kitty pointed at the unconscious body on the floor. "That's not…"

"Nope," Doug said. "That really is Emma Frost in there. She must have did it back at my house, while the Hellions were setting it on fire."

"But…Bobby?" Sam asked. "Why is she in there?"

"Knowing Switch she must have goofed up," Doug said. "Probably Ororo or Kitty was their target but…"

"I knew the Hellfire Club wanted to get Douglas but I had no idea the lengths they'd go to accomplish their goal," Xavier said.

"Tell me about it," Logan scratched his head.

"Wait," Kurt scratched his head. "If Emma Frost is in Bobby's body, then where's Bobby?"

"Probably in Frost's body, wherever that is," Rogue folded her arms.

"Well it can't be too far," Jean said. "I would imagine that she'd want her real body close by so she could make the switch back."

"We could use Cerebro to calculate where the Hellions are," Hank said.

"Or I could do this…" Rogue said as she lightly tapped Bobby's face. She drained a bit of his powers but some of Emma's psyche. "I was right! I got Emma's memories but the Ice Cube's powers. And I know where Bobby is!"

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"The old Veterans Hall?" Kitty said as she looked at the building. It was a slightly worn yet stately building on the outskirts of Bayville.

"It seems that the Hellfire Club has the deed on this property as well as several others," Betsy said. "Something tells me there's more than poker games going on in there."

"Okay remember the plan," Scott said. "We go in, get Bobby and find this Switch character. Kick the Hellions' butts, get them back to the mansions and make Switch put everything right!"

He looked at his team of Jean, Remy, Rogue, Kurt, Betsy, Doug, Kitty and Logan. "Ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," Doug said.

"One simple little deception coming right up," Betsy grinned as she pressed the button on the holowatch. Immediately she turned into Bobby. "Okay Doug, time to play decoy! Just act like a good little zombie and stand by me."

"Don't forget to turn on Forge's voice harmonizer," Kitty reminded Betsy. "You don't exactly sound like Bobby."

"Good point," Betsy turned it on. Then she sounded like Bobby. "Okay it's ShowTime!"

Betsy took the lead with Doug following behind. They saw Warpath come out of the building. "Thank god you're here!" Warpath snapped. "Switch is out of control! Did you get him?"

"Yes I 'liberated' Douglas here from the X-Men," Betsy said. "Where are the others?"

"They're all down in the lower levels trying to catch that maniac! I knew Switch would get out of control! But now that you're here things can finally get back to normal!" Warpath said.

"You're right," Betsy grinned as she created a psychic knife and used it to knock Warpath out. She turned off the holowatch. "They will be!"

The X-Men ran in and found the first floor deserted. They found a secret elevator in the back and took it downstairs to a secret tunnel. "So far so good," Scott said. "Jean, Psylocke can you locate Iceman?"

"This way!" Jean pointed and they ran down.

Bobby was staring at his reflection in the mirror in his cell. "I'm so fat…" He muttered.

"Iceman? Iceman where are you?" Scott called out. The X-Man ran into where the cell was. "Bobby?"

"Guys! Help! It's me!" Bobby screamed in Emma's body and rushed to the bars. "I know I don't look like me or sound like me or have the same powers as me but it's really me! Really!"

"We know," Kitty phased through the bars. "Fortunately we figured it out. Let me get this off you." She phased the collar off Bobby.

"Thanks…AGGGHH!" Bobby was blasted with unfamiliar thoughts in his head.

"Take it easy," Jean used her powers to calm him down. "I know it's a lot to handle but let me help you put some shields up."

"You're in the White Queen?" Remy chuckled.

"SHUT UP!" Bobby snapped. "It's not that funny!"

"To be fair Frosty didn't exactly have a picnic in your body either," Rogue pointed out. "She ate Kitty's cookies."

"What? Is my body still alive?" Bobby asked.

"Ha ha…" Kitty folded her arms. "Can we like just get out of here?"

"Not until we find Switch," Scott told her.

"I think she just found us!" Betsy pointed to the shadows.

"SURPRISE!" Switch leapt out at them and created a huge pink ball of energy. She shot it at them. They were stunned. Switch then ran away laughing.

"Why that little…" Scott grumbled. Then he noticed something. "I can see in color! Oh no…"

"What the…?" Rogue spoke with a Cajun accent and looked down. "Gambit better not be where he thinks he is…"

"Don't even **think **about touching anything Swamp Rat!" Remy shouted in a Southern voice as 'he' swatted 'Rogue's' hands away from 'her' breasts.

Remy looked at himself through Rogue's eyes. "Oh great…" Remy groaned.

"Yeah like **this **is gonna help our relationship!" Rogue snapped.

"Ewww! I'm all fuzzy!" Kurt squealed in a valley girl voice.

"Kitty?" Rogue looked at Kurt. "Is that you?"

"Yes…" Kitty whimpered. "Oh god…I can't go on a date with Lance looking like this! This is so embarrassing!"

"Oh what a tragedy!" Remy snapped.

"Actually this isn't so bad for me," Kurt found himself in Doug's body. "Okay where's Doug?"

"Uh, right here!" Logan waved his arm. He popped out his claws. "Hey! This is cool!"

"Well I'm glad **somebody's **enjoying this situation!" 'Kitty' stomped her foot.

"Logan? You're in my body?" Kitty yelped.

"Yeah this is just what I wanted to be…" Logan grumbled. "It's official…I hate my job!"

"Oh great!" Bobby looked down and found himself in Betsy's body. "I'm still in some chicks body! Well at least I'm not PMSing…"

"WATCH IT YOU!" Betsy snapped. She was in Emma's body. "Well at least us telepaths can use our powers no matter what body we're in."

"Why is that anyway?" Kitty asked. "Hey! This tail won't stop twitching!"

"Oh it does that sometimes," Kurt told her. "Just ignore it."

"HOW?" Kitty snapped.

"Hey! You're checking out my butt!" Bobby snapped at Remy. "And don't lie! I just caught a stray thought! Pervert!"

"You can't control yourself no matter what gender you are can you?" Rogue glared at Remy.

"Scott…" Jean found herself in Scott's body. "I know I said we should learn more about each other…This isn't exactly how I planned it!"

"This is **definitely** not going according to plan…" Scott moaned as he realized he was now in Jean's body.

**Next: Things really get crazy! Even more than usual! **


	16. Now Things Are Getting Confusing

**Now Things Are Getting Confusing**

"First I was a freaking unicorn, now **this!**" Logan grumbled, clearly not happy to inhabit Kitty's body. "This job does **not** pay enough!" The X-Men were looking through the upper levels of the house.

"What are **you **complaining about?" Kitty whined as she stumbled in Kurt's body. "At least you look normal and you don't have to trip over a stupid tail!"

"Oh that makes me feel **so** much better about myself," Kurt mocked. He was clearly happy to be in Doug's body. "I think out of all of you I'm the only one who made out on this deal!"

"Deal? Dude! I'm **still **a girl!" Bobby whined. He looked at Betsy's body. "But at least I'm **dressed!**"

"I don't know," Betsy admired Emma's body. "I quite like this outfit."

"You would," Rogue sighed, removing Remy's gloves. "Sorry Kurt I gotta do this." She yanked on Kitty's…well Kurt's tail.

"OW! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?" Kitty snapped.

"Your whining, your insulting my brother, just being a general pain in the butt, take your pick!" Rogue snapped.

"That hurt you know?" Kitty rubbed her temporary tail.

"Oh I know," Kurt snickered. "Believe me I know."

"You could spank me next?" Remy grinned.

"Gross! Hello? You're like in **her** body!" Kitty told him.

"Giving a new meaning to the words touching oneself," Betsy said. Everyone looked at her. "Well **someone** had to say it!"

"Can't you control yourself for **five minutes?**" Rogue snapped at Remy. "I mean since you're a girl now shouldn't your hormones be under control?"

"Well at least you know his being a letch isn't just a guy thing!" Kitty said.

"No it's a Gambit thing," Scott grumbled. "Even with Jean's help I can still feel his thoughts!"

"Man so this is what it's like to be buff," Doug admired Logan's muscles. "Oh yeah! I could grow to like this!"

"Well **don't!**" Logan snarled. "And stop showing off like that! You're making me look ridiculous!"

"Will all of you calm down?" Scott moaned as he put his hands on his head. Well, Jean's hands on his temporary head. "I can't concentrate."

"Well at least you can see in color," Jean decided to look on the bright side as she was currently stuck in Scott's body. "So this is what you see every day huh?"

"Yeah I'd almost forgotten what colors were like," Scott admitted. "Ow…My head! Bobby, Gambit control yourselves and think about the mission!"

"Let me help you," Jean focused. "It seems I still have my telepathic abilities."

"So do I but for obvious reasons," Betsy remarked. "We can help the boys….Er, girls…uh…Help **them** adjust."

"I don't think I am ever going to adjust to **these**," Bobby pointed to Betsy's breasts, which were rather ample. "How do you keep your balance being so top heavy?"

"Just keep your hands away from the area and you'll live to walk period!" Betsy warned him.

"Yeah like I didn't touch Emma's body," Bobby grumbled.

"Ewww…Gross!" Kitty winced.

"Oh come on, give me a break!" Bobby snapped. "Like I'd blow that opportunity!"

"I've heard of getting into some girl's pants but this is ridiculous…" Scott muttered. "No offense."

"None taken," Jean said. "This is weird enough for all of us. We gotta go catch Switch!"

"Totally!" Kitty whined. "I don't know how much more I can take having all this fur! OW! ROGUE!"

"Ow!" Doug rubbed his hands. "Did you know your claws hurt when they come out?"

"Yes, I am quite aware of that," Logan groaned.

"Well they are pretty pointy," Bobby said. "I guess they would hurt."

"It doesn't hurt that much. You get used to it," Logan said. "Now can we please try to keep it together? I can't use my senses like I could in my old body so can anyone figure out if anyone else is up ahead? Cypher?"

"Uh…"Doug began to say. Suddenly there was a loud sound and an explosion.

"DAMN YOU TO HELL SWITCH!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!"

"I think they're that way," Doug pointed.

"Yeah great work kid," Logan sighed.

"It sound's like they're fighting…Each other," Scott blinked. "You don't think…?"

"GANGWAY! HEEEELLLLLLPPPP!" Jetstream blew by them and collided with a wall. Due to the nature of his powers, he wasn't killed but was rather dazed. "Owie…"

"Okay Bub!" Logan grabbed Jetstream by the collar. "Where's Switch?"

"How should I know? I don't even have my cards!" Jetstream snapped.

"Cards?" Doug asked. "Tarot is that you?"

"Yeah…Wait…" Tarot looked at them. "Did Switch come through here?"

"Oh yeah," Logan grumbled. "Definitely."

"I hate her!" Tarot snapped. "Thinks it's funny to use her powers on us!"

"Something tells me we should talk to the Hellions," Scott said. They went up further but were nearly skewered by several spikes. "DUCK!"

"How Catseye stop these things?" Evan screamed as 'his' spikes went out of control.

"X-MEN! GET THEM! AGGHHHHHH!" Bevatron screamed as his electricity went out of control. "Bevatron how do you control this?"

"You're so damn superior Monet, figure it out!" Bevatron snapped. He was in Roulette's body.

"Oh no you…" Kitty ran to phase but accidentally triggered the teleportation abilities. She landed on Beef. "Oops!"

"AHHHHHHH!" Beef waved his arms around and started screaming. Soon all the mutants tried to attack each other but since they were not experienced with each other's powers they kept blowing up the objects in the room instead.

"Hold it!" Scott shouted. Everyone stopped fighting. "Spyke?"

"Here!" Evan held up a furry paw. He was now in Catseye's body, which was in a half lion form. "I am going to **kill **Switch!"

"I knew she'd screw this up!" Bevatron moaned. "I'm a freaking chick!"

"You have my deepest sympathy," Bobby said sarcastically.

"I am going to need a shower so bad when all of this is over," Roulette moaned. She was in Beef's body.

"If you haven't figured it out by now, Switch is about as stable as Jell-O in a blender," Evan grumbled. "How about a truce? At least until we **all **get back to our own bodies!"

"Fine with me," Logan grunted.

"How do we make her do that?" Kitty asked.

"Oh Ms. Frost will make her do it," Catseye said. "That we know!"

Warpath ran in and grabbed Jean from behind. "Did you really think I'd be out that long One-Eye?"

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY GIRLFRIEND!" Scott shouted as he used his temporary telekinesis to try and fling Warpath off.

"Girlfriend? Hey put us down!" Both Warpath and Jean were being levitated.

"Oh you guys are so funny!" Switch laughed as she walked in with a camera. "Now this is…"

"YOU!" Scott lost his concentration and knocked both Jean and Warpath into her. Switch was so startled she let loose her powers again right before she was knocked unconscious into the wall. A huge pink ball of energy engulfed the entire room.

"Not again!" Bobby screamed.

Suddenly whomever inhabited Evan's body accidentally let loose several fire spikes which imbedded into the wall. Immediately the building caught fire. "Let's get out of here!" Someone who sounded like Remy screamed. No one argued.

The mutants made a mad scramble for the outside. As soon as they got out the entire building caught on fire. "Great this is the **second **building you guys set on fire today!" Doug snapped. He was in Jean's body. "Oh man…"

"Keep this up Evan and like you'll break the Misfits' record," Kitty said. She was in Scott's body. "Cool! Everything is like red!"

"This time **I** didn't do it!" Evan shouted. He was in Tarot's body. "Whichever idiot was inhabiting my body at the time did it!"

"I am **not **an idiot!" The person inhabiting Evan's body shouted.

"That's you isn't it Bobby?" Betsy glared at him. She was in Bevatron's body.

"Yeah," Bobby admitted. "But at least I'm the right gender again!"

"Oh sure, rub it in," Kurt groaned. Now he was in Emma's body and carrying Switch.

"Catseye very confused now…" She mewed. She was in Beef's body.

"Tell me about it…" Beef grunted. He was now in Catseye's body.

"AND I'M STILL KITTY!" Logan roared. "HOW COME I'M THE ONLY ONE WHO DIDN'T CHANGE?"

"That's it, we're **all** going back to the mansion!" Scott threw up his hands. He then noticed that he was in Rogue's body. "This really sucks!"

"Ha!" Remy laughed. He was in Kurt's body. "Rogue where are you? It's me! Remy!"

"Oh yeah like I'm gonna kiss **you** while you're in my **brother's **body!" Rogue snapped. Rogue was in Logan's body now.

"Uh…" Remy looked at the situation. "Maybe you have a point."

"Charles," Logan grunted into his communicator. "We have a problem! A big one!"

"Kitty? What's wrong?" Xavier spoke into his communicator back at the mansion.

"First of all, I'm not Kitty even though I sound like her," Logan groaned. "Just get Frosty ready to convince Miss Mix and Match to do her thing!"

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Twenty minutes and several threats later back at the Institute…

"Fine that's the last one," Switch grumbled as she finished her work. "Now is everybody back where they belong?"

"Oh yes! Thank you God!" Bobby sobbed as he hugged his own body. "Stomachache or not there's no place like home!"

"Switch you and I are going to have a very long talk when we get back," Emma glared at Switch.

"If you get back, you mean," Scott glared at her.

"No, let them go Scott," Xavier told him. "I think we've all had enough."

"Let's call this a draw for now," Emma said. "But remember Cypher, we will be back! You cannot hide from the Inner Circle forever. And when that day comes, you will return to us."

"Yeah and we'll kick your butt again like we did this time!" Rogue shouted as they left.

"Don't be too enthusiastic about it," Remy grumbled. "Remy going to have nightmares for months!"

"I think we've all got some scars to deal with after this nightmare," Scott groaned.

"This never would have happened if I hadn't come here," Doug shook his head.

"Don't worry about it. Like we don't have a bazillion other people after us already," Kitty said to him.

"I think she's gonna be back sooner than we thought," Jean pointed to something on the floor. Lockheed was bouncing up and down and screaming in tones that sounded vaguely human.

"Bevatron's in there!" Betsy said.

"EMMA!" Xavier shouted.

Emma returned to the room, dragging Switch by the ear. "I know! I know!" Bevatron came bounding back into the room on all fours, barking and panting. "The last thing I want is that stupid dragon in my student's body! Although I must admit the temperament is an improvement."

**Next: Gee I don't know what's next. But won't it be fun to find out? Oh wait, I have an idea…He he…I am so insane. **


	17. Life Sucks When You're a Teenage Superhe...

**Life Sucks When You're a Teenage Superhero**

"Sue it was just a dance club!" Johnny Storm, AKA the Human Torch explained to his sister at the breakfast table. "I only went out to have some fun! How was I supposed to know those goons were gonna try and rob it?"

"Yeah it's not like the kid was drinking or anything," Ben Grimm, the Thing remarked as he sat at the table wearing a huge blue bathrobe. He looked at Johnny. "You weren't drinking were ya?"

"No! But those dumb crooks must have been to think they could beat me!" Johnny grinned. "I toasted them!"

"Along with the dance club," Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman folded her arms and glared at her brother.

"I helped put it out by creating a vacuum," Johnny pointed out. "Nobody got hurt, well except the crooks but they totally deserved it."

"That's not what their lawyers say," Reed Richards, Mr. Fantastic pointed out. "You're just lucky they have such outstanding warrants that the judge didn't take their complaint seriously."

"Hey, it wasn't my fault! Besides we got some good press out of the whole thing so there's no problem!" Johnny said.

"There **is** a problem however," Sue said carefully. "Johnny you know I've been your legal guardian since Mom and Dad died. And as your guardian as well as your sister, I'm a little worried about you."

"Sue I took out six armed creeps and saved a whole ton of people from a burning building," Johnny rolled his eyes. "I think I can take care of myself."

"That's not what I meant! You shouldn't have even been at that dance club in the first place!" Sue said.

"In the first place it was an underage dance club, for kids under 21," Johnny told her. "Second if I hadn't gone the crooks would have robbed the place!"

"Not to mention the owners wouldn't have to check on their fire insurance," Ben quipped.

"Besides I was bored!" Johnny ignored Ben. "Look unlike **some** people I have a life! I'm not content to spend my nights sitting around watching Cheers reruns on Nick at Nite!"

"And what is **that** crack supposed to mean?" Ben glared at him. "I happen to like Cheers!"

"So do I," Reed thought. "Personally I think that Diane was much better for Sam than Rebecca."

"Are you nuts?" Ben asked. "Anyone with a brain cell could tell that Becky was a much better match than that uptight snooty Diane Chambers!"

"Boys not this argument **again!**" Sue groaned. "Please!"

"And you wonder why I need to go **out** at night?" Johnny asked his sister. "If I didn't get out of the Baxter Building I'd go **nuts!**"

"Johnny you need more structure in your life," Sue said. "Like any other teenager. That's why I think it's time you went back to school."

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Johnny laughed. "Good one, Sue!"

"I'm serious," Sue told him.

"What?" Johnny blinked. "This is a joke right? You can't just make me go to school!"

"Uh, yeah she can," Ben told him.

"There's no discussion about this," Sue looked at him. "You are only seventeen years old and you need your high school diploma. Or at the very least a GED."

"It's only for one semester at the very least," Reed said. "If you apply yourself that is."

"I don't need a diploma!" Johnny said. "Hello? I'm the Human Torch, remember? The boy wonder who can fly and set himself and anything he wants on fire."

"Well maybe its time someone lit a fire under **you**," Sue folded her arms.

"And where exactly am I supposed to go? It's not like I can just go a couple blocks down to the local high school," Johnny snorted.

"Kid's got a point," Ben agreed. "I mean with all the hoopla people are making about mutants and everything they might not let him in. There's always gonna be some jerks complaining he might burn the school down. Even though he ain't a mutant. Technically."

"We have taken that into consideration," Reed said. "Sue and I have discussed this and we feel that maybe a more… private school would be better suited for you."

"Private school? You mean I'd have to wear some geeky uniform?" Johnny shouted. "You can't be serious!"

"Hey! What's wrong with that? School girls in uniform are hot," Ben said. Sue glared at him. "What? I'm just trying to get the kid excited about learning here!"

"Yeah, well this is **not **the lesson I'd want him to learn!" Sue snapped. "Besides we've already made the arrangements. While Reed and I are on our honeymoon you'll stay at the school and get your degree."

"And where is this hell hole I'm going to?" Johnny asked. "Come on sis! What school in their right mind would let a human matchstick in their building? Other than…" Realization hit him. "Oh no…No, please don't tell me I am going where I **think **I'm going! You wouldn't! You couldn't!"

"If you think about it, it's really the most practical solution," Reed said. "I mean the Xavier Institute for Gifted Children is a credited school now."

"The mutant school?" Johnny shouted. "You're sending me to a **mutant **school? Oh there goes **any **chance of me having a cool rep!"

"Oh you poor abused child," Ben said sarcastically. "And you were living such a **normal **peaceful life too."

"Johnny I'm surprised at you," Sue folded her arms. "These kids have powers just like we do. What difference does it make where they came from? And Professor Xavier said he can help you gain control of your powers."

"Okay in the first place I already have control of my powers thank you very much," Johnny snapped. "It's not that I don't have anything against mutants really it's just…Well, come on guys. You know the only reason we're accepted by the public is because we're **not** mutants. If I go to this school, what are they going to think?"

"I do **not** believe what I am hearing out of your mouth!" Sue slammed her fist on the table. "Where did you **pick up **that garbage?"

"Not from me that's for sure," Ben casually read the paper. "Shame, shame on you boy."

"But Sue…" Johnny pleaded.

"No buts! You're going and that's **final!**" Sue stormed out of the room and slammed the door.

"Hehehehe…" Ben chuckled. "I don't know what I love more. Her sticking it to you, or you getting stuck."

"Shut up Pebble Brain," Johnny grumbled.

"Oh just take your lumps like a man for crying out loud," Ben told him.

"Uh Ben," Reed cleared his throat. "There is one other little thing. You see we kind of also made arrangements for you to go too."

"WHAT? WHY ME? I GOT A HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!" Ben shouted. "I don't need to go to school!"

"Now who needs to take his lumps like a man?" Johnny laughed.

"At least I **am **a man, kid!" Ben snapped. "Come on Reed! Why do I have to get drafted into this?"

"Well Ben we don't want to leave you alone for so long and it won't be forever," Reed said.

"But you can't seriously expect me to take classes there!" Ben said.

"No, Ben you won't be a student. You'd be a…Substitute teacher," Reed coughed.

"Come again?" Ben blinked.

"A **sub**? **Him?**" Johnny pointed at Ben. "He can barely **spell**, let alone **teach!**"

"I can spell **detention!** Which is what you're gonna get…" Ben made a fist then stopped himself. "I **can** give him detention right? I mean I can do more than just read the paper in class, right?"

"Well it would be up to Xavier to assign you your duties but I guess…" Reed shrugged.

"Oh well in that case when do we leave?" Ben grinned.

"WHAT?" Johnny snapped. "Why does he have to come? I don't need a babysitter!"

"Oh yes you do," Ben told him.

"I told you to shut up!" Johnny whirled on him.

"Make me!" Ben made a fist.

"Oh I'll make you all right!" Johnny flamed on.

"Ooh! I'm **so** scared!" Ben mocked.

"God! It's like having **two** children!" Sue threw up her hands as she entered back into the room. "I can hear you down the hall!"

"He started it!" Ben pointed to Johnny.

"Did not!" Johnny snapped.

"DID TOO!" Ben snapped back.

"Sue when **do** they leave?" Reed moaned.

**Next up: What happens when two superheroes attend Mutant High? Find out! **


	18. Welcome to Mutant High

**Welcome to Mutant High**

"Yesterday was the craziest mission ever," Kurt grumbled as he sat down in the kitchen for lunch. Rogue, Doug, Bobby, Jubilee and Kitty were there as well.

"Even crazier than when we ended up in Mojoworld?" Rogue asked. "And then we ended up in a few other dimensions and met other versions of ourselves?"

"Well technically that wasn't really a mission," Kitty pointed out. "That was just a circumstance we ended up in. Personally I thought the one where we on that living island was weird."

"Not as weird as when we all followed Dracula around on Storm's date," Bobby said.

"Again that was technically not a mission," Kitty said.

"Depends on your point of view," Kurt said.

"I can't believe all the crazy stuff I missed," Jubilee shook her head.

"Missed? Heck, I never even **knew **about all this stuff!" Doug said.

"Yeah I know," Rogue muttered. "You don't have to rub it in!"

"Oh, did you hear the latest gossip?" Jubilee said.

"Hey! That wasn't me who put all those goldfish in the girl's bathroom!" Kurt shouted.

"Not that," Jubilee said. "We're getting a new student today!"

"Really?" Kitty said. "How do you know?"

"Well I was in the Professor's office last night…Uh, emptying the wastebaskets when the phone rang, so I picked it up. Well Ororo answered it on the other line and was talking to this guy. He said his name was Reese Richardson or something like that and he wanted to see if he could enroll his fiancée's kid brother in the Institute for a bit. And he's coming today!"

"Really? Tell us more" Kitty asked.

"I can't divulge that information," Jubilee folded her arms and looked smug. "It's classified."

"You got caught didn't you?" Bobby asked.

"Yeah…" Jubilee frowned. "Three months on laundry duty? Ugh! I mean Cyclops seriously needs to chill out!"

"Well maybe he thought that punishment was perfect for someone with your fashion sense?" Rogue grinned.

"You think?" Jubilee asked. Then realized Rogue was teasing her. "Hey!"

"I can't believe we're getting a new student," Kitty giggled. "I wonder if he's cute!"

"Oh I'm sure Lance would **love** to hear that," Pietro remarked as he sped around them.

"Quicksilver what are you doing here?" Rogue groaned.

"Oh just making myself available to all my adoring fans," Pietro grinned.

"Yeah but that doesn't explain why you're **here**," Rogue glared at him.

"Why is anyone here?" Fred asked as he and the rest of the Misfits walked in. "Why are we all here? What is our purpose in life?"

"To annoy the X-Men, duh!" Arcade said.

"Oh yeah," Fred grinned. "That's it."

"So are you all talking about the new student and the sub you're going to get?" Pietro asked.

"A new sub?" Doug blinked. "We're getting another teacher?"

"How did you know that?" Kitty asked.

"I know everything," Pietro sniffed. "The new X-Geek wannabe is Johnny Storm a.k.a. the Human Torch, member of the Fantastic Four."

"The Human Torch? Wait, he's not a mutant is he?" Kitty asked.

"No, just got himself a lot of cosmic radiation which gave him a serious sunburn," Pietro told her.

"He's not really joining the team," Arcade said. "He's just here to get his high school diploma."

"And how do you guys know this?" Jubilee asked.

"Trinity wiretapped your phone lines," Althea explained.

"I should be shocked but I'm not," Rogue admitted.

"I'm amazed they haven't done it sooner," Kurt said to her.

"So he's not a mutant? That's a bummer," Bobby frowned.

"Still, it'll be kind of neat having an actual celebrity at the school," Kitty thought.

"What do you think **we** are? Broccoli?" Rogue asked.

"I thought the expression was chopped liver?" Kurt asked.

"You say what **you** hate to eat and I'll say what **I** hate to eat," Rogue said.

"I don't like either so I don't have a problem," Todd shrugged.

"I like broccoli and chopped liver," Fred thought. "I like a lot of foods. I'm not really that picky."

"Gee, I never would have guessed," Pietro quipped.

"How do you know so much about the Human Torch?" Kurt asked.

"Oh we met a while back in Washington DC," Pietro sniffed. "You know how these things go, they were in trouble and the Misfits just happened to come along and save their pathetic butts. The usual."

"Wait, you said we were getting a new substitute teacher too," Kitty said. "Who is he?"

"You won't believe this," Lance grinned.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"Wow, this place looks like Donald Trump's summer cottage," Ben remarked as he took his bags out of the car.

"I can't believe we have to live in this dump," Johnny grumbled. "Reed and Sue didn't even bother to come with us!"

"Hey they had that project they were working on with Tony Stark," Ben told him. "Besides this place might not be so bad."

"AWWK! INVADERS TWELVE O'CLOCK!" A green parrot flew at them. "DIVE! DIVE!"

"Whoa!" Johnny ducked as the parrot narrowly missed his head. "What the…"  
"RARRRR!" A small purple dragon flew straight at them. It stopped right in front of them.

"Is that a dragon?" Johnny's jaw dropped.

"Either that or I'm having one heck of a tequila hallucination," Ben blinked.

The dragon sniffed the air around them. Then looked down at Johnny's suitcase. "I think he's checking us out," Johnny said. "Cute little guy."

Then the animal opened it's mouth and set out a stream of fire. Instantly Johnny's suitcase ignited. "HEY! FLAME OUT! OUT!" Johnny tried to use his powers to control the blaze but it only made things worse. "NO! YOU STUPID…"

"Hold on kid!" Ben grabbed the suitcase. "I got it!" He threw it down into theground and jumped up and down on it. "There! That should put it out!"

"Thanks a lot…" Johnny glared at his ruined possessions. Then at the dragon. "You are so dead!"

"Actually I'm dead," A girl with green skin, black hair wearing a pair of Capri pants and a halter-top came out. "Dead Girl's the name. Oh I see you've met Lockheed the Dragon."

"Lockheed the Dragon?" Ben blinked as the beast sniffed him.

"Yeah he's Kitty's pet," Dead Girl said. "He's pretty harmless though."

"YOU CALL THIS HARMLESS!" Johnny pointed to his destroyed luggage.

"You should see what he does to people he doesn't like," Scott sighed as he walked up to them. "I'm Scott Summers. I'm leader of the X-Men and a teacher here."

"You look a little young to be a teacher," Ben blinked.

"Well I did just graduate high school last year," Scott admitted. "But I did take some online teaching classes. Let's just say the Institute needs some help."

"Oh that really fills me with confidence," Johnny grumbled.

"Lockheed? There you are!" Kitty ran out and Lockheed flew into her arms. "Where were you?"

"Destroying my clothes that's where he was!" Johnny snapped.

"Welcome to the club," Scott groaned. "Kitty why don't you show him around while Dead Girl and I get Mr. Grimm settled?"

"Mr. Grimm was my old man," Ben told him. "Just call me Ben or Thing."

"You know your dragon wrecked all my stuff," Johnny told Kitty as she led him inside. Lockheed huffed.

"I'm like really sorry about that," Kitty apologized. "But he gets defensive around people he doesn't know. I mean we do get attacked a lot and…"

"Well I guess I can understand," Johnny flashed a smile. _She's pretty cute. Maybe this won't be so bad after all. _He thought to himself.

That changed pretty quickly as soon as he walked inside and saw the Misfits.

"Oh no…" Johnny glared at Pietro. "What are **you** doing here? I thought you guys were in the army!"

"We are," Pietro grinned. "We're just protecting our country from dorks!"

"I take it you know each other?" Rogue asked.

"Yeah the last time we met these guys got in our way and we got into a fight with them!" Johnny said.

"Lies, all lies," Pietro waved.

"I dunno," Rogue said. "Sounds pretty believable to me. I'm Rogue and unfortunately I'm related to this idiot."

"Yeah I read your files," Johnny said. "You're Kurt Wagner a.k.a. Nightcrawler, Jubilation Lee also known as Jubilee, and Bobby Drake a.k.a. Iceboy."

"Ice-**man**," Bobby frowned.

"Oh," Johnny didn't appear interested. He looked at Doug. "The files didn't mention you."

"I'm new here," Doug said. "Doug Ramsey, Cypher. I can translate any language and crack any code."

"Man what a sucky power," Johnny said.

"Tell me about it," Doug grumbled.

"You have files on us too?" Kurt asked.

"Who **doesn't** know about you guys?" Johnny said. "You've only been on TV and the Internet half dozen times more than Paris Hilton."

"I hope you weren't watching a couple of days ago," Kitty groaned.

"You mean when you nearly made street pizza out of that jerk Stryker? Why? Ashamed you missed?" Johnny grinned. "He's lucky I wasn't there. I would have barbecued that guy."

"I know someone I'd like to barbecue…" Pietro muttered under his breath.

"Would you settle for a frozen matchstick?" Bobby whispered to him.

"So what's it really like here?" Johnny asked Kitty as he sat down next to her.

"It's not **that **different from any other school," Kitty shrugged. "Other than the fact our school gets trashed by some bad guy at least once a month."

"Or in most cases by the Misfits twice a week," Rogue glared at Pietro.

"Say Kitty," Lance said quickly. "How about you and I do something later, seeing as you're my **girlfriend?**"

"Hey I think she might be busy later so back off," Johnny snapped.

"Oh no…" Angelica winced. "Here we go again."

"Well I don't think Kitty will have time for you so maybe…" Lance began.

"Rrrrr…" Lockheed glared at the both of them. He blew smoke in both their faces.

"Hey!" Both Lance and Johnny protested.

"I gotta take care of this," Kitty said picking up Lockheed. "Come on Lockheed, its time for your walk. I'll see you around Johnny. Lance we'll talk later." She went off.

"Nice girl, despite her freaky pet," Johnny said.

"Who are **you **calling a **freak?**" Lance snapped.

"Hey! I got these powers by accident," Johnny growled. "Something you should know all about!"

"And what's **that** supposed to mean?" Lance shouted.

"Oh I know **exactly** what he means," Pietro's eyes narrowed. "He thinks he's better than us because he's human who just happened to luck into powers!"

"Don't put words in my mouth!" Johnny snapped.

"I didn't have to," Pietro said. "I saw that look you gave us!"

"Yeah he's given it to us several times to recognize it," Bobby quipped.

"Should we do something?" Angelica asked the other Misfits.

"Yeah, we should get some bets going," Fred remarked.

"Ah Mr. Storm," Ororo walked up to them. "I'm Ororo Monroe."

"Storm, meet Storm," Pietro quipped.

"Pietro shouldn't you and the Misfits go to your **own **classes at your base?" Ororo looked at him. "As I was saying Johnny we need to evaluate your powers. Why don't you follow me to the Danger Room and the rest of you get ready for your next class?"

"Fine," Johnny got up and made a cocky salute with two of his fingers. "Later." He walked off with her.

"That guy has got an attitude!" Pietro growled.

"Said the pot to the kettle," Bobby remarked. "But for once I agree with you."

"Is it me or was he a little **too** friendly with Kitty?" Lance growled.

"Oh get over yourself, Lance," Wanda rolled her eyes.

"I tell you one thing I can't wait to find out how he did in the Danger Room," Rogue said.

"Gentlemen I think we should give our new guest a warm welcome," Pietro grinned. "Or maybe a cold one?"

"Since when is this place **your** home?" Kurt asked.

"Let it go dude," Bobby said. He turned to Pietro. "We're listening."

"Oh dear," Lina blinked. "This is not going to end well is it?"

"This should be good," Fred chuckled.

"I think I'm going to enjoy playing with our new friend," Althea grinned.

"Can't you just feel the love?" Todd snickered.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Later that day Hank was showing Ben to his first class. "This class is Mutant History," Hank explained. "All the students have to take this class so both teams are integrated in it."

"Wait, Mutant History? Mutants have a history now?" Ben blinked. "I thought you guys just showed up inNew Yorkone day?"

"Well we study events and time periods surrounding the actions of certain mutants," Hank admitted. "Like for Apocalypse we studied Ancient Egypt, the Cold War for the super soldier programs…You get the picture. I admit it's a bit of a stretch but it is fascinating. We also have the students study a lot of current events and how they relate to mutants."

"Uh, I gotta confess to ya Beast," Ben rubbed his head nervously. "I ain't exactly what you call the scholarly type. I mean I ain't never taught a class before. I'm kinda nervous here."

"Ben," Hank gave him a grin. "The man you are replacing used to use our textbooks for target practice, got in fistfights with the instructors and used to assign reading the racing forms as homework. I'm afraid I have a confession to make as well. The bar is set pretty low around here. So low an ant could do the limbo under it if you get my drift."

"Whoa," Ben blinked. "Well that kinda makes me feel better."

"Don't worry," Hank told him. "Most of them are good kids." He opened the door to find the kids goofing off and talking. Tabitha was dancing on a table. Jesse was sleeping. Tim was making paper airplanes then using a little of his powers to set them on fire. Kurt and Sam were throwing a football around. Sam slipped and his powers activated, making him collide into the wall with a loud thud.

"Well most of the time," Hank sighed. "All right people take your seats before you cause any more damage to the walls." The students did so.

Except for Sam who was stuck in the wall. "Somebody help Cannonball out of the wall please?" Hank sighed."Now this is Mr. Grimm, he'll be your sub for the next month or so. By then we'll probably be able to convince Mr. Logan to give it a try again without slicing up the desks. So behave yourselves! Please! They're all yours."

"Thanks a lot," Ben grumbled as Hank left the room. "All right youse guys. The names Mr. Grimm better known as the Thing. Lemmie take attendance first."

"We're all here," Tabitha said. "Like we've got somewhere else to go."

"If you haven't heard by now we've been officially banned from nearly every public place in town," Bobby said. "So if you do leave campus don't be surprised if people start screaming and throwing stuff at you."

"Oh well there's a happy piece of news," Ben groaned.

"Hey where's Mr. Hot Stuff?" Ray asked. "You know that new kid that came with you."

"The Professor is evaluating him in the Danger Room," Kitty said.

"Oh man…" Ray chuckled.

"Dead man walking," Roberto snickered.

"What?" Ben asked.

"Let's just say there's a reason it's called the Danger Room," Rahne snickered.

"I'm loving this place more and more," Ben sighed. "Well here's a seating chart and you're all here…" He looked at Sam who slumped in his seat rather dazed. "More or less. Okay let me see the notes Mr. McCoy left for this class," He picked up a whole stack of papers. "Thorough ain't he?"

"You should see what he writes for the classes he really likes," Roberto said.

"Okay the next thing we should do…" Ben began when he noticed Jesse was still asleep. He started to stalk over to his desk holding a book.

"Uh, Mr. Grimm?" Kitty gulped.

WHAM! Ben hit the book hard on Jesse's desk.

"AAHHH!" Jesse shot up. And immediately every electrical appliance in the room including the light bulbs exploded or shorted out.

"Duck and cover!" Ray shouted as the students hid under their desks.

"What the…?" Ben covered his face until the explosions stopped.

"Uh, Mr. Grimm," Kitty gulped. "I tried to tell you, don't ever scare Jesse. Things explode when that happens."

"Sorry," Jesse gulped very nervously. "I have trouble controlling my powers."

"Okay…My fault there," Ben sighed as he went back to his desk. "It's not like there was a note or anything telling me…" He looked at the notes. "Oh wait, yes there was. Item number five. Maybe I should read this thing. And you should all just read your books. Well at least it's sunny out…So we can read by…sunlight?"

Just then it started to cloud up and lightning flashed. "Oh boy," Ray said. "Shipwreck must still be here."

"Who's Shipwreck? Did he do this?" Ben asked.

"Indirectly," Jubilee told him.

"See he's Wavedancer's dad," Rahne said. "And he's a blinking loon to boot."

"Is he a mutant?" Ben asked.

"No," Sam said. "But he does have the power to annoy Storm. That's Ms. Monroe's code name. She's the one making it rain."

A crack of lightning made Ben flinch. "Okay, remind me not to get on that lady's bad side," He gulped. "Maybe we should just have a discussion instead?"

"Okay," Tabitha said. "Now tell us everything about Johnny boy? For starters what's his favorite color?"

"Does he have a girlfriend?" Amara asked.

"What kind of music does he like?" Jubilee asked.

"I meant we should discuss current events!" Ben told them.

"This is current," Tabitha said. "So does he have a girlfriend or not?"

"Tabby!" Sam snapped.

"I'm asking for Amara here," Tabitha said. "For crying out loud I'm not Kitty!"

"And what is **that** supposed to mean?" Kitty snapped.

"You **know **what it means!" Peter snapped.

"Hey **you're **the one who broke up with **me!"** Kitty shouted at him.

"Yes because I was tired of sharing you with **Avalanche!**" Peter snapped.

"Say **what?"** Ben asked.

"Kitty, Peter and Lance of the Misfits have had this stupid love triangle for a long time," Rogue told him. "Finally Peter got fed up with it all and quite frankly I don't blame him! Nobody likes getting jerked around!" She glared at Remy.

"Why you looking at Remy for?" Remy snapped.

"Hey she's not the one who was engaged to an assassin dude," Ray said.

"For the last time," Remy growled. "It was an arranged marriage! And I left her!"

"Only after you killed her brother at the wedding," Ray said.

"In self defense!" Remy snapped. "It's not like I flirted with other girls when I was with someone, **Ray!"**

"Who are you kidding? You do it all the time!" Rogue snapped. "You even tried to flirt with Storm once."

CRACK!

"Once…" Remy winced. "Oh boy…There goes another tree."

"Wonder what Shipwreck did this time?" Paige asked.

"I dunno, but it must have been good!" Dead Girl grinned.

"And this is a **good** class huh?" Ben groaned. "Is there anything else I should know around here?"

"Yeah never eat Kitty's cooking," Bobby called out. "Your skin may be hard as a rock but I doubt your stomach is!"

"Bobby likes to make snow in your room!" Kitty snapped.

"Watch your back in the shower in case Trinity comes calling!" Jamie said. "They're the Misfit triplets. They like to strip boys!"

"Stay away from Forge's inventions unless you wanna be shrunk, transported into another dimension or blown up," Tabitha said.

"Be careful of Boom Boom here because she likes to blow people up!" Ray pointed.

"We get a lot of lawsuits," Sam said. "Lots of lawsuits."

"Sometimes Trinity uses their inventions to blow people up, wreck things, or try to strip you!" Jamie shouted.

"People sometimes attack us for no reason so expect explosions at any time," Roberto said.

"And sometimes Trinity…" Jamie said.

"I GET THE MESSAGE!" Ben shouted.

BOOM! CRASH!

"YEOWWWWWWWW!"

"And so did Shipwreck," Rogue remarked as she heard the scream.

"Maybe we should get back to the whole Kitty-Pete-and What's His Name thing?" Ben sighed. "I guess I can relate to that."

"Why? Do you have a girlfriend?" Tabitha asked.

"No, yes…" Ben sighed. "Look I don't really wanna talk about it now."

"Aw come on," Kitty said. "It might help."

"No, we are not talking about my love life!" Ben snapped.

Twenty minutes later…

"Why oh why did I let her leave me?" Ben sobbed. "Alicia was the only one who accepted me for who I was!"

"There, there…" Jamie patted Ben's back. "Let it out."

"Oh Alicia…" Ben sobbed.

"Boy the quality of education in this country is really going downhill isn't it?" Tabitha snickered.


	19. First Full Day of Insanity

**First Full Day of Insanity**

"All right I don't know how you guys did this but you are really gonna get it!" Logan snapped. "How could you guys make The Thing have a nervous breakdown in class? On his **first day?"** He glared at the students in the classroom.

"Technically it was an emotional breakdown," Remy pointed out. "He's very depressed over his love life."

"Well I don't…" Logan began and stopped. "He has a love life?"

"Not really," Remy shrugged. "That's what he's depressed about."

"I see," Logan sighed. "Well whatever you did he's now in the Infirmary crying his eyes out!" Several students were snickering. "It's not funny! Okay maybe it's a **little** funny, but still…"

"We don't really know how it happened," Jubilee said. "One minute we were talking about history stuff and then we kind of went off topic."

"Obviously!" Logan snapped.

"Actually we weren't talking about history stuff," Jamie admitted. "We were warning him."

"About what?" Logan asked.

"Trinity, Forge's inventions, Kitty's cooking…" Jamie went on.

"Ah another piece of the puzzle…" Logan sighed. "No wonder he had a breakdown."

"Actually I think he' s just a little depressed," Tabitha said. "Nothing a change of scenery can't cure."

"He'll certainly get **that **around here," Rahne said.

"So how did The Human Matchstick do in his Danger Room session?" Bobby asked.

"Well…." Logan thought for a moment.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Earlier that day:

"YEOW! WHERE DID **THAT** COME FROM?" Johnny screamed. "WHO USES BUZZSAWS IN A SIMULATION! AGGGH! LASERS! WATCH OUT FOR THE LASERS! OH NOW I KNOW THAT CAN'T BE A REAL ALIGATOR! AGGGHHH!"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"There were a few problems," Logan admitted. "For some reason the Danger Room automatically went up to the highest level."

"Really?" Bobby whistled. "Imagine that."

"You mean it went all the way up to Level 30?" Kitty gasped. "And he survived?"

"Barely…" Logan sighed. "But his wounds aren't that bad. He's also in the infirmary."

"Even you and I have trouble with that level," Rina said.

"I know…" Logan sighed. "Look we have enough problems with recruitment and trying to have some kind of reputation other than what we have right now. So do us all a favor and cool it with the insanity huh?"

"Not a chance…" Bobby grinned to himself as Logan left the room.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Sue I am telling you this place is crazy!" Johnny spoke into his cell phone. "I've only been here one afternoon and they've already driven Ben nuts and set my suitcase on fire! No it was a dragon. You heard me. A dragon. He set my suitcase on fire. And then this crazy parrot dive-bombed me. Actually the parrot dive-bombed me first, **then **the dragon set my suitcase on fire. Oh please I can make up way better excuses than that! And another thing those Misfits are here too. Apparently they come over every day to cause fights and get this; the teachers here actually encourage them! I am **not **exaggerating! "

"Man what a crybaby…" Jamie muttered as he listened in from the other room. He had a listening device on his head. "I mean he gets his own room in the basement levels. What does he have to complain about?"

"What's he saying?" Bobby asked. He, Ray, Roberto and Kurt were in the room as well.

"He's trying to get out of staying here," Jamie told him.

"How come **he** gets the listening device?" Ray hissed.

"Because Trinity made it for me!" Jamie told him. "Now shut up! I'm trying to hear this!"

"Sue I know we get into fights with people like Dr. Doom and the Puppet Master and stuff but these guys make them look like they're normal! Oh yeah, did you know one of them is actually a zombie? A real zombie?" Johnny asked. "Oh and get this, you know where they assigned me? The beginner class! I'm in a group called the New Mutants! Can you believe it? Sue, I'm a freaking professional crime fighter and I'm being treated like a rookie? Give me a break!"

"I'd love to!" Bobby said as Jamie relayed the message.

"They got this torture chamber see, they call it the Danger Room…" Johnny began. "I was nearly killed in there! And don't get me started on some of the other kids that go here!"

"Anything about us?" Kurt asked.

"He's just getting started," Jamie said. "You guys wanna detonate that shaving cream bomb that Quicksilver gave us?"

"Good idea," Bobby grinned as he pushed a detonator. "I wonder what color the dye he put in it is?"

"He said it would be a surprise," Roberto explained.

BOOM!

"AAAHHHHH!" Johnny screamed and ran out of the room.

"Well it certainly is," Bobby snickered.

"SUE GET ME OUT OF THIS NUTHOUSE!" Johnny shouted.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"I can't believe you guys didn't get caught!" Rogue hissed to Kurt as the students went to their Mutant History class the following day. "How did you do it?"

"Easy, we blamed it on the Misfits," Kurt said. "They fell for it hook, line and sinker."

"Technically it was the truth," Roberto grinned.

"And didn't the Professor or Jean pick up on that?" Rogue asked.

"They were too busy getting Mr. Grimm to calm down," Ray grinned.

"Why are you so mean to him?" Kitty snapped.

"Hey we didn't mean to make Mr. Grimm cry," Jamie said.

"Not **him**! I meant Johnny!" Kitty snapped.

"Oh come on Kitty, the guy needs to seriously chill out!" Bobby said. "Didn't you hear him the other day? He thinks he's better than the rest of us because he's not a mutant!"

"He does not!" Jubilee said.

"He does too!" Bobby snapped.

"Bobby Drake you are the most immature person I have ever met!" Jubilee glared at him. "Can't you try to be nicer to him?"

Johnny walked in wearing jeans, a black T-shirt and multi colored hair. "Love the new look!" Bobby called out. Jubilee hit him on the arm. "What? I said something nice!"

"Shut up popsicle breath!" Johnny snapped.

"Come on it doesn't look that bad," Jubilee went over to Johnny.

"Yeah you should try having blue fur sometime," Kurt called out.

"Good morning class," Ben seemed cheerful as he walked in. "Before we start I want to apologize for my little outburst the other day. I know I kinda flew off the handle a bit…I'm much better now. So how about we start with Chapter five? You wanna take it from the top Rainbow Brite?"

"Ben so help me…" Johnny growled.

"It's Mr. Grimm in class," Ben grinned. "Remember you must respect your teacher!"

"You are loving this aren't you?" Johnny growled.

"Oh yeah," Ben grinned. "Now first thing we gotta do…" Suddenly the ground began to shake. "What the…?" The windows shattered. "I am not cleaning that up!"

"Is that Avalanche?" Peter shouted.

"No! I think it's coming below us!" Rogue shouted.

"Look out the window!" Jamie pointed. A huge mound of earth was spewing from outside. It turned out that a strange drill like machine was overturning the earth.

"NOW WHAT?" Johnny shouted. The most of the class jumped through the windows (they were on the ground floor) and went outside. Ben was too big so he just looked out the window.

The machine stopped and a small compartment opened up. Mole Man peeked out. "Man! I'd forgotten how bright the sun is! I should have packed my sunscreen!"

"Mole Man!" Bobby shouted.

"What are you doing here?" Johnny asked.

"You **know** this guy?" Both Bobby and Johnny said at the same time.

"Oh great! Just what I need! The Fantastic Fools here to ruin my life again!" Mole Man snapped.

"I guess it was too much to hope for that you'd stay in that hole in the ground!" Johnny activated his powers. "FLAME ON!"

"You wanna play it like that?" Mole Man readied his staff. "Bring it on!"

"HOLD IT!" Scott ran out with several more X-Men. "For **once **can we **not** get into a huge unnecessary fight that causes more property damage?"

"Spoilsport…" Ben grumbled.

"You sure know how to take the fun out of things," Mole Man grumbled.

"Could you please explain why you're here?" Scott asked Mole Man. "Last time we saw you, you never wanted to see us again!"

"I still don't but I need your help," Mole Man said. "One of my babies accidentally made her way to the surface! Some miners broke through to her pen and now she's loose!"

"Babies?" Logan asked. "Exactly what kind of baby are we talking about?"

"A Grimork," Mole Man said.

"What the heck's a Grimork?" Ben asked.

"Oh just your usual subterranean beast of burden," Mole Man said. "Kind of a cross between a dog and a wooly mammoth. They're used as pets mostly. It's not that hard to miss. Three horns, large shaggy brown coat, four large feet…"

"It's only four feet tall?" Bobby asked.

"No it has four feet," Mole Man corrected him. "It's about thirteen feet tall."

"Thirteen feet tall?" Jubilee gasped.

"Well it is only a baby," Mole Man said. "Normally they're about twenty feet."

"Oh **that's **a lucky break," Scott groaned. "Come on we'd better get ready to go."

"You aren't seriously going to help this freak are you?" Johnny asked.

"Listen genius, his pet is probably gonna cause a lot of trouble and folks could get hurt!" Ben snapped. "If nothing else we gotta protect this town."

"Yeah but who's gonna protect us?" Johnny grumbled.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Twenty minutes later…

"Of course it's running amok in downtown Bayville!" Bobby groaned as he dodged a blast of fire. "Where else would a fire breathing monster go?"

"Oh yeah," Mole Man said where he was hiding. "I guess I forgot about that part huh?"

"You **think?"** Logan snapped as he dodged a flame blast. He wrinkled his nose. "And I could have used some advanced warning on the smell too!"

"Oh dear…" Mole Man noticed. "They do make a mess don't they?"

"Yeah and all over the mayor's car…" Jean winced. She tried to stop the creature by using her telekinesis. "This thing is heavier than it looks!"

"Yeah and it looks like it ate a blue whale for lunch!" Bobby shot some ice at the creature. "Aggh! Forgot! Fire melts ice!"

"Don't hurt my baby!" Mole Man pleaded.

"For crying out loud," Ben grumbled as he leapt onto the Grimork's back. "This ain't exactly a hamster we're trying to corral here! Whoa!" He tried to hang on but he was flung right into a wall. "Ow…"

Scott shot his eye beams right in front of the creature, causing it to startle. "Keep shooting at its feet! Maybe we can get it to control where it goes!"

"Yeah!" Jubilee and Tabitha shot out their powers.

CRASH!

"We did control where it went," Jubilee winced. "Right into a china shop."

CRASH!

"And an antique store…" Jubilee added.

CRASH!

"Well there were too many nail places in town anyway," Tabitha said.

CRASH! PLUNK! PLUNK!

"And it's not like a lot of people buy organ pianos nowadays," Jubilee added.

"Is there anything that can stop this thing?" Scott yelled at Mole Man.

"There is," Mole Man took out his whistle. "However it doesn't have very good hearing. You need to get close to it."

"Why the hell didn't you give this to us in the **first **place?" Logan roared as he took the whistle. "Colossus! Fastball Special! Now!"

Peter grabbed Logan and threw him towards the creature. Logan blew on the whistle when he was close enough. The Grimork stopped in its tracks but Logan kept going. He collided right into Ben who had just gotten down from the wall. "Ow…"

Jean used all her concentration and power to lift the Grimork. "I can't hold this thing much longer!"

"Don't worry! You don't!" Mole Man pressed a button on his staff. Suddenly the ground rumbled beneath them. Another drill machine made a huge hole in the street and then backed down. "Just drop her right in!"

"I'm trying…" Jean grunted. However her hold slipped and the creature fell to the ground. "Damn! I missed!"

"No, but you knocked it out cold," Kitty said as she looked at the creature.

"Again you couldn't have done that **before?**" Logan held his head.

"My poor baby!" Mole Man cried out.

"My aching back…" Ben groaned.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"You people have a lot of weird friends you know that?" Johnny snapped as he, Ben and the X-Men returned to the mansion.

"Shut up Johnny," Bobby snapped. "You know the guy too!"

"Yeah but we're not on a first name basis or anything!" Johnny snapped.

"I take it that things did not go well," Xavier wheeled out to meet them. "Judging by all the calls I received from the citizens of Bayville."

"Let me guess, **another **lawsuit?" Scott groaned.

"Seven actually…" Xavier sighed. "The good news is three of them are willing to settle."

"As long as we pay through the nose, am I right?" Logan guessed.

"We didn't do anything but stop it and they're still blaming us!" Kitty groaned. "Like we're the ones who set the monster loose in the first place!"

"It's not like we haven't done thatbefore," Kurt admitted.

"Look at the bright side," Bobby said. "At least it got us out of class."

"I hate this place…" Johnny grumbled. "I freaking hate this place!"

"I dunno…" Ben shrugged. "It's got its good points. At least it's not dull."

**Next: A horrible tragedy beyond anyone's imagination occurs: Kitty wins another contest! God help us all…**


	20. The Big Write Off

**The Big Write Off**

Two days later after the mini fiasco Johnny still was not having a good time adjusting to the Xavier Institute. Although Ben was well liked, the rest of the students were still not happy with Johnny's attitude.

"Okay maybe you were right about him," Jubilee admitted to Bobby as they sat down in the library. "I can't believe he said that!"

"Who said what?" Kurt asked. Several other students were in the library as well, including Doug, Rogue and Amara.

"Basically the Matchstick called Jubilee a freak," Bobby told them.

"Well not exactly," Jubilee said. "I decided to try and be nice to him and show him around and he had the nerve to think I was asking him out on a date. He said he wasn't attracted to a 'girl like me' and I asked him what he meant by that!"

"And you didn't give him a chance to answer?" Rogue grinned; knowing that Johnny probably was talking about Jubilee's personality. She saw no need to correct her.

"Well his eyes said it all!" Jubilee said. "And so I replied without speaking!"

"She threw his drink on his head," Bobby grinned.

"Uh huh…" Rogue said. She saw Kitty bounding in. "And here to announce the replay…"

"Guys you will never guess who is coming here!" Kitty squealed. "You know Glory? From Glory Magazine?"

"You mean that model slash actress slash magazine editor?" Rogue asked. "The one that makes me want to slash my wrists?"

"That's her," Kitty nodded.

"I thought she was an evil demon that wanted to destroy the world on Buffy the Vampire Slayer?" Doug asked.

"Nah, the demon on that show is a lot less scary," Rogue said.

"Very funny!" Kitty looked at him. "Well you'll never guess. Like she had this essay contest about where you write about your school and your life in her magazine and guess what? I won! Isn't that the coolest?" Everyone stared at her silently. "Oh and here's the best part, first prize is that she comes to your school to do an entire issue on your school! So guess what? She's coming here! Isn't that fabulous?"

No one said a word. "Like **hello?** Isn't anybody gonna congratulate me or what?" Kitty looked at them.

"Kitty, remember what happened the **last **time you won a contest and somebody famous showed up?" Amara asked.

"Remember the lawsuits, the gunfight in the restaurant…" Bobby reminded her.

"Our lives getting turned upside down for a stupid movie which never saw the light of day?" Rogue asked.

"The guy who had a heart attack on our front lawn?" Kurt added.

"Not to mention the ruined career of that totally hot actor who used to be so famous, but now even I can't remember his name anymore!" Amara said.

"Okay so I admit that was a bit insane," Kitty said. "Besides he's completely happy in that Tibetan Monastery! He writes to me all the time because he took that vow of silence so it's not a total write off."

"What isn't a total write off?" Danielle asked as she and Tabitha walked up to them.

"Kitty just won another stupid contest," Rogue said. "And the editor of Glory is coming to our school."

"Wait I've heard of that magazine," Danielle said. "Isn't that the one that's completely about fashion, gossip and trends and has no socially redeeming value whatsoever?"

"Yeah so what's your point?" Kitty asked.

"Figures," Rogue groaned.

"Come on like you can't be totally serious twenty four seven," Kitty said. "It's just a fun magazine."

"If you consider brainwashing an entire demographic fun yeah," Doug said.

"I think we'd be happier if that evil demon from Buffy the Vampire Slayer was the one coming here!" Rogue said.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"I'm telling you Charles," Logan grunted. "This is a **bad** idea!"

"Logan you know that any chance the Institute can take for good publicity we have to grab," Xavier told him. Scott was in Xavier's study with them as well.

"This is gonna be that movie all over again, I just know it!" Logan groaned.

"I gotta agree with Wolverine on this one," Scott said. "I mean look at what happened the last time Kitty won a contest!"

"Well hopefully this time it won't be a repeat of that," Xavier sighed. "I think we should call the Misfits up now and ask them."

"Might as well get it over with," Scott dialed the number in the videophone.

"Misfit Central," Lance answered the phone. He frowned when he saw Scott on the screen. "Oh it's you."

"Alvers…" Scott growled. "Can we speak to someone over there with more than **one** brain cell?"

"Scott…" Xavier warned.

"What? You need advice on how to dress?" Lance asked.

"Lance what's going on?" Cover Girl walked in with Roadblock.

"Hello Cover Girl, Roadblock," Xavier said.

"At least I don't look like a reject from a bad 80's movie!" Scott snapped.

"Xavier," Roadblock said. "Logan."

"No you're just a reject period!" Lance snapped.

"KNOCK IT OFF!" Logan snapped. "Look we have to talk to you. It's important."

"Yeah so go away Alvers and let us grownups talk," Scott smirked.

"No way," Lance folded his arms. "If you're here I am **not** leaving!"

"Fine!" Xavier sighed. "I just thought we'd let you know that we're having someone important come to the mansion. Have you ever heard of the magazine Glory?"

"Yeah that rich witch who thinks she's like Paris Hilton with talent," Cover Girl remarked. "Only she has less which is an accomplishment in itself."

"And she's not just saying that because she's a bitter little person," Roadblock chuckled.

"Yeah I mean that magazine really reeks!" Lance said.

"Well any chance for good publicity…" Scott shrugged.

"It could be a marvelous opportunity for us to reach young people," Xavier said. The Misfits laughed. "Did I say something wrong?"

"I'm guessing you never read the magazine have you?" Cover Girl looked at Xavier.

"No," Xavier admitted. "Should I?"

"Only if you want to see if your horoscope dictates what fashions you should wear," Roadblock said. "Or what movie star matches your biorhythms."

"That bad huh?" Logan folded his arms.

"Let me put it to you this way," Lance said. "Pietro has a three year subscription."

"Now I **know** this is a bad idea!" Logan put his hand to his face.

"Look could you guys do us a favor and not come here for a week?" Scott said. "We're going to have enough problems impressing this woman without you nutcases popping over here every five minutes to cause trouble."

"As long as we don't tell Pietro everything will be fine," Cover Girl said.

"We can't come over anyway," Lance said. "We have survival training in the woods all week."

"Thank goodness for small favors," Scott grumbled. "At least there won't be any trouble!"

"Oh yeah?" Lance snapped. "Well I'll bet that you guys get in trouble without our help! How's that?"

"You have a bet!" Scott snapped.

"Fine!" Lance said. "For the whole time Glory's there, no contact between either teams! This will prove once and for all you will screw up without our help!"

"Fine with me!" Scott snapped. "For once we're going to have a nice quiet week without you Misfits around! The last thing we need is any interference from you!"

"Uh, Scott…" Logan coughed. "Aren't you forgetting one **other **thing?"

"Oh yeah," Scott suddenly felt very embarrassed. "Could you…Watch Penny and the dragon for a week?"

"Sorry Summers, no contact," Lance grinned. "Bye!"

"Technically she's a New Mutant!" Scott shouted. Lance laughed, Cover Girl shrugged and Roadblock looked sympathetic. "Oh come on guys…"

"Sorry the rules are no contact," Roadblock said. "As of now they are in effect." He shut off the video screen.

"Well at least we got half of what we wanted," Xavier said. "Which is more than I expected to be honest."

"We're gonna lose this bet aren't we?" Scott groaned.

"Oh yeah," Logan nodded. "Big time."

**Yes I admit it; I 'borrowed' this story line from a Daria episode! But I'm putting my own spin on it. He he…Gee I meant to get a lot more serious with this story but so much crazy stuff is in my head now I just gotta get it out the only way I can! **

**Next Glory arrives. But she's not gonna be the only 'popular' person suffering from popularity troubles! **


	21. The Trials and Tribulations of Being Pop

**The Trials and Tribulations of Being Popular**

"RRRRRRRR!" Penny gripped the elastic of the strange mittens on her hand with her teeth but to no avail. They would not come off. Rogue, Forge, Logan and Hank were in the medical room with her.

"Honey, I know wearing gloves isn't fun," Rogue sighed. "But we can't take the chance of you ripping Glory to shreds. Although I gotta admit that I would pay to see that happening."

"They're not hurting her," Forge said. "They're made of a special blend of metals including adamantium specially modified into…"

"Her claws can't come out right?" Logan interrupted him.

"Yeah," Forge said.

"That's good enough for me," Logan sighed.

"What do the A-List Celebrities think about your toenails?" Hank read from a magazine. "How being too thin is a myth. What's so great about being cool? Good lord do people actually **read **this?"

"No, teenagers do," Logan grunted.

"This magazine is the most frivolous claptrap I've ever read," Hank snorted. "And considering the amount of bad writers published that's saying something."

"Yeah but most bad writers don't get to flaunt their junk all over newsstands and sell it to make a quick buck every month," Rogue said.

"Has she ever written **anything **about mutants?" Hank asked. "Either pro or against?"

"I cross referenced Glory's magazine with anything on my computer," Forge said. "It came up with only one sentence. More like a question for her readers to answer. 'Will having multi colored fur do away with shaving products?'"

"I think I will choose to view that as a good thing," Hank sighed.

"I knew Charles was hard up for good publicity…" Logan shook his head. He heard the sound of gleeful screaming. "What the heck is that?"

"I believe Glory has arrived," Hank said wryly.

They went to the foyer. Many of the students were waiting. "Now what's going on?" Logan asked. "And why are all of you dressed up?"

Several of the girls were dressed up in new outfits. "We just want to show Glory that mutants have a sense of style," Tabitha grinned, showing off her peach colored outfit.

"What do you think?" Amara asked showing off her outfit.

"I think you've all gone bonkers," Betsy said.

"We have to be fashionable as possible," Dead Girl told them. "Spotlight: The Xavier Institute, a Glory magazine special photo spread! This is our chance to be the next fashion style center!"

"Paris, Milan, New York and now here…" Rogue deadpanned. "Be still my beating heart."

"Where is her Royal Highness anyway?" Logan asked.

"Out there," Bobby pointed to the crowd of reporters just outside the door.

"Oh brother…" Logan grunted when he got a good look.

Glory had short blonde hair, a purple tank top with an unbuttoned yellow blouse, and a very short dark purple skirt. She looked like a thirty-five going on fifty-year old woman pretending to be only nineteen. Which she was. The press surrounded her trying to get an interview and pictures. "I don't know how you all found out about this," She twittered. "I mean this was like supposed to be a secret!"

"But your office called to say you'd be here…" One reporter said.

"Can't talk now! Gotta go work! Bye!" Glory posed for the cameras before ushering herself into the mansion with three other people.

"Hello! I'm Glory from Glory Magazine and soon to be on Glory TV," Glory grinned. "These are just some of my people here! My cameraman, personal assistant and makeup artist! I hope you don't mind!"

"Well…" Xavier began but was cut off.

"Oh my god this place is perfect!" Glory twittered. "This place is so…real."

"Yeah we kind of like it that way," Rogue said. Kitty elbowed her in the ribs.

"Hi Glory," Kitty extended her hand. "I'm Kitty Pryde."

"Oh my god! This is so cool! I mean me spending a day with a typical teen who happens to be a mutant," Glory twittered. "I just knew I had to do this story! It's just the kind of hot hip thing that needs to be written about."

"Because everything else has been written at least a bazillion times in every other magazine," Betsy whispered into Rogue's ear.

"Girlfriend I am so psyched! This expose is going to be P-H-A-T! Phat! Love it! Oh this is my assistant Anna…" She indicated a young woman with brown hair.

"Ann," The woman corrected. "Just Ann."

"She's like going to be writing everything down for me so don't worry, forget she's even here," Glory waved. "And Petey here will be taking pictures."

"Percy," The cameraman sighed.

"Whatever," Glory waved. "Now where is the Human Torch?"

"What?" Hank was taken aback.

"The Human Torch! I simply must meet him and…" She startled as she looked at Hank. "Oh my! Is that **real** fur?"

"All natural," Hank grinned.

"Hmmm…" Glory looked like she was judging him. "It works for you. Yes very edgy and in!"

"Well that's good to know," Hank said.

"Ms. Glory I am Professor Charles Xavier and I…" Xavier began.

"Oh yes, I love your book! Fabulous title! It moved me!" Glory said dramatically. "How about we all have a little confab about what I'm going to do for you and how we are going to accomplish this!" She saw Warren in the corner, walked straight over to him and hooked her arm around his. "Mr. Worthington I presume? If you'll show me the way?"

"Yes," Warren's manners shone through. "Right this way." They left with Glory babbling on about herself.

"It's official," Sam said. "Quicksilver is no longer the king of egos. The King is dead, long live Queen Glory."

"She seemed really nice on the phone," Kitty said.

"The phone?" Hank asked.

"Yeah she called me up yesterday and wanted to know what life was like here and who was living here," Kitty said.

"Kitty, in your conversation with her did you happen to tell her that The Human Torch of the Fantastic Four was here as well?" Hank asked.

"Well yeah," Kitty said. "Right after she asked about Warren."

"I think I just figured out her angle," Logan grunted. "And it ain't exactly about her story."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Meanwhile on another mutant campus far away…

"How can you even **accuse** me of sleeping with her!" Evan shot at Tarot. They were both arguing in his room.

"I didn't say you were sleeping with her!" Tarot snapped. "I said you looked like you wanted to sleep with her! **Are** you sleeping with her?"

"NO! Look we had **one **strategy meeting session between the two of us just to get her up to speed!" Evan snapped. "We didn't even have a snack or anything and all of the sudden you're making it out to be some kind of affair? You have no reason to act this jealous!"

"Oh come on Evan, I've seen the looks half the girls on campus have given you!" Tarot snapped. "Especially since you've been taking the serum! And I don't like how you've been acting?"

"How **I've **been acting? How exactly have I been acting? More confident? More relaxed? Not worried that I might accidentally **stab** somebody? For the first time in I don't know how long I look and feel human again and you think it's a **bad **thing?"

"Yes…No…" Tarot sighed. "I don't know!"

"Look you have nothing to be jealous about," Evan took her in his arms. "I love you but you've been acting way to possessive lately! I can't even look at another girl without you going crazy."

"Well you do have a reputation, you have to admit," Tarot pulled away. "Especially after what you told me about your kid."

"That's what's really freaking you out isn't it?" Evan said. "I never should have told you."

"Are you planning on going back for her?" Tarot asked.

"By her do you mean my daughter or Tommy?" Evan snapped. Tarot stormed out. "Tarot!" He didn't even follow. He flopped back on the bed. "Aw man!"

Yvonne walked into the room. "Trouble in paradise?"

"Ohhhh…" Evan groaned. "You know I thought looking human again would only improve things between us! I don't get it! I finally look the way I should look, and now she's freaking out!"

"In other words, she only liked you when she thought no one else wanted you," Yvonne told her.

"Well she was **wrong **on that account!" Evan snorted. "Trust me on this."

"Oddly enough I do," Yvonne put her hand on his face. "Believe it or not Evan, you and I are a lot alike. People always have unrealistic expectations of us and they get mad when we don't live up to them."

"You mean like Ms. Frost?" Evan asked.

"She's the exception of the rule in my case," Yvonne sighed as she sat down next to him on the bed.

"Yeah well this thing with Tarot is starting to become a drag," Evan sighed.

"Really?" Yvonne grinned. "Then why not just dump her?"

"I still like her a lot," Evan told her.

"Like is not the same as love," Yvonne told him. "You like a book or a movie. A person wants more."

Then she kissed him. "What the…?" Evan gasped.

"Don't bother protesting," Yvonne grinned. "I picked up your thoughts. You definitely thought about this."

"Yeah but that's not the same as doing it!" Evan gasped. "Besides what if Tarot comes back?"

"She won't. She just left the building to go get some coffee. Most of the other Hellions are gone and the ones that are here are too busy playing Nintendo to find us," Yvonne grinned.

"But…But…" Evan quickly tried to think of a reason. "But Tarot…"

"If she's going to be jealous of me, why not give her a reason?" Yvonne grinned.

_How do I let myself get into these things? _Evan thought as he fell backwards onto the bed with Yvonne on top.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Back at the Institute…

"And I said to Matt 'It's so hard to be a wunderkid' and he said 'You are so right,'" Glory was talking a mile a minute to both Warren and Johnny. Even though Scott, Xavier, Kitty, Hank and Ororo were in the room as well, she completely ignored them. "Then he said that I had to get my opinions out there and let people get to know me like he and all my other celebrity friends do, and that's how I started Glory!"

"That's…Interesting…" Warren said diplomatically.

"So Glory," Johnny maneuvered himself next to her. "You say you're going to have a TV show?"

"Yes I am! It's going to be all about me and my wonderful friends and gossip and fashion and…"

"Oh look there are some students outside with some problems, I'll just be a minute!" Scott said suddenly. He left the room and shut the door. Rogue, Betsy and Amara were there. "Thanks for the message! I couldn't take it another minute!"

"Telepathy," Betsy explained to the other two girls. "I could sense his distress halfway across the mansion."

"So could I and I'm not even telepathic," Rogue said. "That bad huh?"

"She's been here twenty minutes and all she's done is talk about herself to Johnny and Warren," Scott groaned. "Not that anyone else can get a word in edgewise."

"Where's Logan?" Amara asked.

"He took one whiff or her new fragrance and he ran off to the Danger Room," Scott groaned.

"Ugh, I can smell it from here," Rogue wrinkled her nose. "Must be brutal for Logan and his enhanced sense of smell."

"Three guesses what it's going to be called?" Betsy said sarcastically. "Could it be…Glory?"

"However did you guess?" Scott said sarcastically. "I wonder if it's too late to call the Misfits and back out of our bet so they can come over?"

"Oh dear," Betsy winced. "She's talking about her close personal friendship with Ashlee Simpson. Better call in Warren."

Warren soon rushed out and nearly slammed the door behind him. "Why the hell didn't you do this **fifteen **minutes earlier?" He moaned.

"Run Warren!" Rogue said. "You can hide in the attic and we'll hold her off with holy water!"

"Look she can't be that bad," Amara said. "I'd love to meet her."

"Be my guest!" Warren took off.

"Okay…" Scott braced himself. "But don't say you weren't warned."

"So I said to Mark, 'Well who else could be as fabulous as me? Don't I deserve a week in Aspen?'" Glory was going on full steam. Xavier looked like he was going to either wipe his own mind or Glory's. "But I got the deal done anyway and now I have two homes in Aspen! Not bad for a twenty eight year old huh?"

"Twenty Eight?" Hank spat out his drink.

"I know, I know…" Glory waved. "When I go out clubbing with all my celebrity friends, I'm the one who always gets carded!"

"These clubs…" Rogue began. "Are they very, very dark?"

"Were you on TV once?" Glory blinked at Rogue. "You were on the Fashion Channel or something."

"Or something yeah," Rogue admitted. "I ended up testifying before a Congressional Panel about mutant rights."

"Wow," Glory said. "You go girl! Getting the word out on mutant fashion to Congress! That is so cool. You must hear that a lot!"

"Well I can safely say I've never heard it put to me like that," Rogue said.

"Being famous can be such a drag! I never wanted to give up my privacy," Glory said.

"Sure that's why you put you name on your own magazine," Rogue said.

"Uh hello," Amara said quickly. "Glory, I'm Amara. Pleased to meet you."

"Well I'd be pleased to meet me too," Glory grinned.

"Perhaps we should get on topic and discuss what you hope to accomplish here Ms. Glory?" Xavier said, trying not to let his impatience show. "Our mission here is not only to educate mutants, but educate people as well."

"Sounds like school or something," Glory looked puzzled.

"Let me try to explain," Kitty said. "We want you to find the Institute not as just some boring and dull school. But a place that's pretty cool."

"My magazine only does edgy and cool," Glory said. "That's what drew me here! I want to know what it's really like at a mutant school. What you do, what you wear, how hard it is to be a teen…"

"Well then perhaps we should let the students show you around?" Ororo said quickly.

"Fine with me," Johnny stood up and offered his arm.

"I meant the students that have been here longer than a week," Ororo told him. "Girls, if you don't mind?"

"Why not?" Rogue gritted her teeth.

"This way," Kitty was excited. "I'll show you around!" She left with Glory, Rogue, Amara and Betsy. Johnny quickly followed anyway.

"Goddess Charles," Ororo slumped into her seat as soon as they were gone. "What have we gotten ourselves into?"

"I knew we were desperate for good publicity…" Hank groaned. "But **this!"**

"I have to admit, that is the most vapid, self absorbed young woman I have ever met," Xavier was admittedly shaken. "And I've spent several evening's with my ex-wife's friends! And they were hardly Rhodes Scholars to say the least!"

"Does anyone have the number for the Misfits?" Scott moaned.

Meanwhile Glory had tagged onto Johnny and was gushing about herself. Kitty was leading out in front; showing them the garden while the rest of the girls remained behind. "I wonder where all her people are?" Rogue asked.

"I saw them hiding in the kitchen," Betsy said. "I feel sorry for those poor sods."

"Isn't she like a little old for that outfit?" Amara whispered.

"She's a little old for that brain," Betsy said.

"Oh what an adorable **pink** little girl!" Glory cooed as she saw Penny peek her nose out to see her. "I just love pink! It's so in! What a fashionable mutant!"

"Rrrrrrrrr…." Penny growled. She bounded up to them.

"Oh she wants to give me a hug!" Glory twittered. "Yes you may hug me you…YOU OWWWWW!"

"Oh too bad," Rogue chuckled. "Penny got her gloves loose."

**Next: More fun pointless people torture! Gotta love it. **


	22. So Much for Good Publicity

**So Much For Good Publicity**

"I knew this was going to be a disaster…" Scott moaned as he walked down the hall with Jean. "We're just lucky all Penance did was slash Glory's outfit! Not to mention somehow she got into all her other 12 cases of clothes she brought with her!"

"Scott just put up with her," Jean sighed. "I don't sense any hostility in her mind. In fact I don't really sense **anything** in her mind but that's beside the point. We need all the good publicity we can get."

"You call **that **good publicity?" Scott asked.

"So her writing isn't exactly what we wanted but her magazine is read by a lot of people!" Jean reasoned.

"Yeah people who don't exactly think for themselves!" Scott snapped.

"Don't you think you're being a little harsh?" Jean said.

"You can't seriously tell me anyone wears these?" Glory whined as she walked out in a large trainee X-Men uniform. Kitty, Tabitha, Rogue and Betsy were with her. "I mean I don't know if any of these even **qualify **as fashion!"

"Then again…You may have a point," Jean sighed.

"I can't believe all my designer outfits are all trashed!" Glory whined.

"Oh well those outfits were getting kind of retro anyway if you know what I mean," Tabitha shrugged.

"What?" Glory blinked.

"Well I didn't want to say anything…" Tabitha whistled. "But I think I saw a few outfits that were once on the Golden Girls."

"No they weren't!" Betsy grinned. "They were on Kathie Lee Gifford."

"Ahhh!" Glory winced in agony. "On the other hand, this outfit does make my body look good. So what exactly do mutants do around here?"

"Well…" Scott began. A wicked thought crossed through Scott's mind. A thought of him performing a level nine Danger Room simulation with Glory running for her life, screaming as explosions were all around her.

"We have classes," Jean obviously picked up the thought. "Basically they're a lot like any other school." She opened the door to one classroom. Then she saw Bobby throwing snowballs. Several other mutants were using their powers fooling around. To her horror Ben and Hank were ignoring the madness because they were fighting between themselves.

"Yankees!" Ben snapped.

"Red Sox!" Hank snapped back.

"Yankees!"

"Red Sox!"

Jean quickly shut the door to the classroom before Glory could look in. "Uh…Study hall. Completely boring. Let's…check out the arboretum, shall we?"

Jean quickly steered Glory around and they went to the arboretum. They found Ororo tending to her plants using her powers. Tiny rainstorms were watering the plants. "Hello there," Ororo smiled warmly.

"Woah," Glory was impressed. "How are you doing that?"

"I have the ability to manipulate the weather," Ororo explained. "I can use my powers on a localized scale with just enough concentration."

"So like say you're getting ready to do a fashion shoot and all of the sudden it starts to rain," Glory thought. "You can like just make it all sunny again?"

"Well yes," Ororo said.

"So you can make it rain or snow or just about anything?" Glory asked. "Boy I could have used that power on a few dates! Like the time I went out with Ratt Mace, the lead rock star for the group Bloody Tongues. Ugh, what a disaster! Certainly he had the tongue part right but you would think a guy like that would know how to use it! Especially when…"

"You know why don't you two have a nice talk?" Scott interrupted. "And the rest of us will go…See if there's a class available for Glory to sit in on? Right guys?"

"Yeah! Right! We'll go now!" Most of the girls said. Rogue dragged Kitty away as the small group left the arboretum.

"That was close…" Betsy groaned. "If I had to listen to one more bloody story from her I would have given her nightmares for a month!"

"Sounds like justice to me. I'm already going to have nightmares for a month!" Rogue said. "Where's the Professor when you really need him to fix someone's brain?"

"She has a brain?" Scott joked.

"She is not that bad!" Kitty defended.

"Yes she is," Tabitha said. "So where is Professor X?"

"He took off with Warren to have more talks in Washington," Scott told her. "Congress and the Senate are still trying to figure out what to do with us."

"Yes so it's important that we make a good impression on her," Jean said. "Maybe she'll write a good article about us and maybe it will take some of the pressure off us. So please whatever you do let's keep our cool and not make any kind of scene! The last thing we need right now is to give the press another unflattering picture of mutants."

"Hey guys! Guess what?" Jamie ran up to them holding something.

"Jamie what are you doing out of class?" Scott asked.

"It was getting too loud in there," Jamie said.

"Yeah I figured that," Jean sighed.

"Take a look at this!" Jamie held up a notebook. "These are the notes Glory dictated to her secretary, **before** she got here!"

"What?" Jean took it and began to read it. "How did you get this?"

"It's real easy to bribe her people," Jamie said. "She's not a very nice boss."

"And a lousy backstabbing…" Kitty managed to read the notebook as well. "The mutants were thrilled that someone as glamorous as I was able to visit them. Despite their tragic condition these lonely misfits were eager to learn what I was able to teach them. What the hell is this?"

"Boy if Kitty's swearing it must be bad," Tabitha looked at the document. "And it is."

"This is nothing more than an ad saying how wonderful Glory the Magnificent is," Betsy was angry. "How she graced herself with her presence at the Institute."

"She never intended to write about us at all," Scott was furious. "It think it's time we had a serious talk with her!"

"AAAAIIIEEEEEEEE!"

"I think Lockheed is already having words with her," Betsy noticed someone running down the hallway towards them.

"Get it away! Get it away!" Glory screamed as Lockheed chased her.

"Oh don't be such a weenie!" Tabitha called out. "He's not even using his fire!"

"I guess we should help her, if only to find out the truth," Betsy sighed as they ran after them.

"Lockheed! Don't set her on fire! At least not yet!" Kitty got her dragon to stop.

"What is that horrible thing?" Glory gasped. Lockheed stuck his tongue out at her.

"Look who's talking!" Rogue said.

"Give it up girl! We know all about your article!" Betsy snapped.

"Yeah it's all here in black and white!" Tabitha showed her the notebook. "Or in this case purple glitter and white."

"So much for being open and honest," Kitty fumed. "I would say you wrote this before you got here, but that would imply you actually did some work!"

"Hey! I gave my secretary…What's her name? My opinions and thoughts! It's her job to transcribe them," Glory sniffed. "And what do you mean complaining about all this?"

"What do **you **mean?" Rogue said. "I mean you say that you're only trying to spread the truth but the only thing you're spreading is fertilizer!"

"Hey I could write a lot worse about you," Glory said. "Think about it. There are a lot of people out there who listen to what I have to say. I tell them what's hot and what's not. I tell them if they're too fat or badly dressed or if their hair isn't the right color."

"And you make money off of that," Jean was fuming. "You pressure people…Mostly young people into thinking what they should buy with their money or how they look and if they don't conform exactly to your standards they're worthless!"

"Let's not get so melodramatic about that," Glory waved. "It's not like I'm the only one doing it. Hey, even your Professor's got an angle. I mean come on! You can't tell me a guy with psychic powers wouldn't use that to his advantage. I mean look at this place! The money has to come from **somewhere!** Okay I'll admit this whole new species idea is a new angle. And peace and love and brotherhood and all that crap never really goes out of style but come on! The only difference between you and all the other freaks of nature out there is that you've got some sense of style and a much more profitable marketing strategy."

"I can't believe what I'm hearing!" Jean gasped. "You should be using your influence for good!"

"I am, my own good," Glory told her. "What's wrong with that?"

By now they had attracted the attention of all the other students as well as the teachers. They watched as Jean tore into Glory. "What's wrong is that you're twisting the minds of everyone who reads your magazine! Don't kids have enough problems without some forty year old teenage wannabe shoving her opinions on how they should look and act and making a profit off of it!"

"How did you…Did you read my mind?" Glory fumed.

"No, I read the lines on your **face!"** Jean snapped.

"Way to go Jean!" Ray hollered. "Did I really just say that?"

"And I'm saying this! I knew this was a mistake hanging around this freak show! No amount of publicity is worth this!" Glory snapped as she turned around.

Then she slipped and fell straight onto her butt and slid all the way down the hall. Bobby snickered as Glory traveled the small ice pathway he was creating. "AAHHHH!" Glory screamed as she headed straight for the door.

"I know I shouldn't but I can't resist," Jean sighed as she telekinetically opened the doors, letting Glory fly out and land in a puddle of mud on the front lawn. The very same front lawn a horde of reporters and photographers were watching from the front gate and snapped several pictures.

"What's going on?" Logan asked as he ran out with the rest of the students.

"I believe her Royal Highness is leaving," Ben grinned as he folded his arms.

"Glory!" Johnny ran up to help her. "Here let me…"

"Get your hands off me you freak!" Glory snapped as Johnny helped her up.

"Fine…" He dropped her back into the mud puddle.

"JOHNNY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

"Reed?" Johnny said. A large black car was parked in the driveway. They could see Reed Richards sticking his head out.

"What are you doing here?" Ben asked.

"Johnny, Ben…" Reed sighed as he got out of the car first. "What's going on?"

"Just taking out the trash," Scott waved. "You're Reed Richards right? From the Fantastic Four."

"Yes I…" Reed began.

"What the hell are all these reporters doing here!" A man with brown hair and glasses wearing a well-made suit got out of the car. "Richards! You assured me there would be no bad publicity about this!"

"The hell there won't be! I'll sue! I'll sue you all!" Glory screeched.

"Who's this guy?" Logan asked.

"Dick Beacon. He's from the mayor of New York's office," Ben said. "A real big wig. What's he doing here?"

"What am I doing here?" Beacon snapped as he stormed up to them. "What are **you **doing here in a place like this? That's what I wanna know!"

"I'm afraid we have a slight problem," Reed sighed. "It concerns you and Johnny being here."

"The only reason we tolerate the Fantastic Four is that you are **not **mutants," Beacon said. "Your presence at this school seriously tarnishes your image!"

"When I informed Mr. Beacon and some other government officials about your schooling plans…" Reed sighed. "They…disagreed."

"You're damn right we disagree!" Beacon said. "Cosmic radiation is one thing. But mutants? No, we have enough problems with your kind without adding to them!"

"Now just a damn minute…" Logan unsheathed his claws and pointed them at Beacon. Beacon screamed and took a step backwards. He accidentally bumped into Glory who was trying to get up again and fell back into the mud with Beacon on top.

"Boy you go away for a few days and everything goes to pot," Fred remarked as he and several Misfits suddenly appeared from around the corner.

"Now what?" Scott groaned. "How did you get here? You didn't…."

"We used the big helicopter this time," Lance pointed. Sure enough a GI Joe helicopter was on the side of the Institute on the baseball field. "To keep a low profile."

"You call **that** a low profile?" Ben asked.

"How come we didn't hear it landing?" Rogue asked.

"Who could hear anything with that woman screaming like a banshee?" Logan pointed to a still screaming Glory who was now throwing mud at Beacon.

"I thought you guys weren't going to show up?" Rogue asked.

"Well…" Althea said. "You see…" Suddenly two police cars and three black sedans pulled up at the front gates.

A FBI agent walked out of one of the cars. "Gloria Raddachino? AKA Glory?" He said.

"Yes…" Glory sniffed.

"You're under arrest for conspiracy, tax evasion and possible treason," He took out his handcuffs.

"WHAT?" Glory screamed as he cuffed her. "Take these handcuffs off me! This is ridiculous!"

"Uh, no it isn't," Althea said. "We know who financed your house in Aspen."

"YOU'RE ALL GOING TO HEAR FROM MY LAWYERS ABOUT THIS!" Glory screamed as she was being dragged away by two police officers. "I'LL SUE!"

"Yeah, like you're the first," Rogue waved as she was led away.

"GLORY! GLORY!" The paparazzi were flashing as many pictures as they could from behind the gates. "Hey! It's the Fantastic Four! Johnny! Mr. Richards! Are you secretly funding the mutants?"

"Oh god no the press!" Beacon shouted. "No comment! Richards!"

"Uh, Ben, Johnny I think we have to go now…" Red gulped.

"What about our stuff?" Ben asked.

"What stuff? Mine got trashed!" Johnny snapped. "Let me out of this dump!"

"Who are **you **calling our place a dump?" Bobby snarled.

"I am!" Johnny got into his face. "And good riddance!"

"Yeah to **you!"** Bobby snapped.

"Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?" Scott shouted. "I thought you Misfits weren't going to come over? You guys are supposed to be in training!"

"Well you see our training got a little interrupted," Lance scratched his head. "We got called in right away to do a mission."

"It seems Glory has some very interesting backers," Althea explained. "Namely Cobra. We just raided her front office an hour ago and got a lot of evidence."

"Not to mention a lot of lip gloss," Xi blinked as he displayed some. "I like the chocolate chip cookie flavored ones."

"Naturally since it was a Cobra thing the Feds wanted our assistance and we were happy to help," Wanda continued.

"Not to mention help ourselves to some neat eye shadow!" Arcade showed them. "Look at what Xi's wearing! Isn't that his color?"

Lance looked at the two of them. "Guys we really need to have a serious talk once we get back home."

"AGGGHHH!" Johnny was suddenly thrown backwards by a blast of snow. "THAT'S IT! FLAME ON!" The next thing anyone knew, Bobby and Johnny were having a full-blown snow and fire war in the front yard.

"DRAKE!" Scott shouted as he ducked for cover. "KNOCK IT OFF!"

"So much for hoping the matchstick would mature in this place," Ben grumbled.

"We are leaving right **now!"** Beacon hopped up and down. "STOP FIGHTING! THE PRESS IS TAKING PICTURES OF ALL THIS!"

"Gee I wonder if there's gonna be anything interesting on the news tonight?" Rogue asked sarcastically.

"You mean besides Glory getting arrested as well as Iceman and the Human Torch having a brawl on your front lawn?" Xi asked innocently.

"Yeah, Xi…" Rogue winced. "Besides that."

"How about that Beacon guy getting hit with a snowball?" Angelica pointed.

FOOM!

"Not half as interesting as one of Johnny's flames setting that media truck on fire," Betsy blinked.

"And to think Grim, you're gonna give **all **this up!" Logan remarked.

"Yeah," Ben sighed. "Stretch and I will take the Matchstick. You and your guys get the Snowball."

"Good plan…Jean…" Logan sighed as they instructors and Fantastic Four went to quell the riot. Ororo used her powers to make it rain to stop the fire. The rest of the X-Men and Misfits watched the pandemonium.

"So much for good publicity…" Scott moaned.

"On the plus side Glory's magazine got shut down for good and Johnny Boy is going home," Rogue said. "So it's not a total loss."

"Yeah and we shut them both down right on national TV," Scott groaned.

"Sorry Scott, I guess we did screw this up for you after all," Angelica apologized.

"ICEMAN! KNOCK IT OFF!" Logan roared. "YOU NEARLY FROZE ONE OF THE REPORTERS OUT THERE!"

"Actually guys," Scott sighed. "Why don't we call this one a draw?"

**Next: Let's check in and see how some of our favorite villains are doing? Maybe now we can get the plot moving in some kind of direction. **


	23. More Fun With the Bad Guys

**More Fun With The Bad Guys**

Magneto overlooked the progress of his latest project from his office. "Magnificent."

Winters his butler nodded. "Sir fifty nine percent of construction has been completed. At this rate Avalon will be completed in less than two years. If we find more mutants with the right powers to assist us, we may be able to finish it in one. Depending on luck of course."

"Luck has nothing to do with it Winters," Magneto told him. "Careful planning does. Despite our recent encounter with Charles' students we have been progressing rather well in the recruitment of others to our cause."

"Yes, last week's recruitment went well in Los Angeles," Winters said. "Seven new mutants to our cause. A 99 percent success."

"But you're upset it wasn't a hundred aren't you?" Magneto made a wry grin. "I can tell when you're annoyed you know?"

"You can honestly say sir, that you are not put off by that brash upstart who insulted you?" Winters asked.

"For every loudmouth and deluded fool that has refused me, three more mutants are more than willing to join," Magneto told him. "Times have changed. I no longer need to recruit every single mutant I find. And I especially do not need some two bit hoodlum questioning me."

"He did seem to be full of himself, sir," Winters nodded.

"Mark my words, Shooter will regret turning down my offer of sanctuary to lead a gang of worthless human trash," Magneto told him. "If he wishes to waste his talents, let him. I now have more than enough mutants with similar powers anyway."

"If I may be so bold sir," Winters coughed. "We still have less than a thousand mutants to our cause. We still need all the mutants we can obtain, regardless of their powers. I do not trust the alliance with Cobra. Their assistance with your breeding program is moving at a snails' pace. And even if they were more successful, once the subjects are born it will take years before they will be capable fighters. Years we may not have if the humans have their way."

"You have raised many valid points. Perhaps I **should** step up my recruitment campaign?" Magneto thought. "Winters, what was the name of that Morlock we heard about? The one who can detect other mutants?"

"Caliban, sir."

"Caliban…" Magneto thought. "Yes…A mutant with his talents might prove quite useful. Very useful…"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"This is outrageous!" Pierce screamed as he slammed his bionic arm into the desk, causing it to splinter in half. "Four hours and the damn thing literally melted! It wasn't supposed to **do** that!"

"Pierce…" Shaw was bored and looked up from the computer screen. "That's **another **thousand dollars in fines to your account!"

"If you keep breaking our things at this rate you'll have a debt bigger than the National Deficit of France," Harry Leland chuckled.

"Shut it fatso!" Pierce snarled. "I'm not in the mood!"

"Let me guess, you lost **another** contraption in order to retrieve the crystal?" Leland mocked. "That makes five so far."

"There has to be a way! There just has to be!" Pierce shouted.

"Calm down Pierce. What you need to do is think outside the box. I think we've just found a more practical solution to our little volcano problem," Shaw grinned as he reviewed the files. "Tell Frost I want to see her. I have a little job for her and her Hellions. It involves the Xavier Institute. There's one mutant he has that will do the job perfectly for us."

"Which one?" Leland looked at the file. "Magma, eh…Of course! Why didn't we think of this before?"

"To be fair we were a little distracted," Shaw said pointing to Pierce.

"Selene's not going to be happy we're doing this," Leland said. "Didn't we promise her that all future dealings with Nova Roma would be her territory?"

"Let me worry about the Black Queen," Shaw waved. "It's not like she can do anything about it anyway."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Selene heard everything in her chamber as she looked into her crystal. "So the fool thinks he has everything under control, including me?" She hissed. "He has no idea. It appears I have no choice."

Two Bacchae spies appeared at the doorway. "Report," Selene said.

"Mistress, the object you seek is no longer in Japan," One of them told her.

"I figured it would not be," Selene said. "Did you at least figure out which ninja clan is in possession of it now?"

"Yes," The second one said. "The Arashikage clan. However due to many past…developments the clan is scattered at best. There are several rogue members that have split off from the clan."

"I know of the situation of the Arashikage clan," Selene interrupted her. "Once they were the most powerful of ninjas. Even the Hand feared them. But this century has not been kind. Much of the clan is either dead or gone rogue. Many have disappeared. I do know where we can find a few of them. First, see if you can find the ninja called Darkshadow."

"We have news of him my lady," The first one spoke. "He is dead after a falling out with Cobra."

"Well then that's where we should start looking for more leads," Selene said. "Infiltrate Cobra and see if you can find his journals. Anything that will lead us to our quarry. I will investigate the clan members affiliated with GI Joe. Like it or not they seem to be my best lead. You may go."

"As you wish," The two Bacchae left the room.

"The Destiny Stone will be mine," Selene spoke. "And I will not rest until I have it in my possession. But first…" She looked at the crystal. "I believe I have time for a little payback. Magma is it? Well well…Looks like I will be able to thwart Shaw's plans and get my revenge on Nova Roma at the same time…"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"I will not rest until they are in my possession!" Cobra Commander hissed.

"We've almost got the damn thing open so please stifle yourself!" Destro snapped. "With all due respect Cobra Commander."

Cobra had infiltrated a bank and was now trying to open a bank vault. Destro, a few Iron Grenadiers, and the Baroness were with Cobra Commander. "I can't believe we've even sunk this low," Destro grumbled. "Why the hell couldn't we let our lackeys do this? That's what they're **paid** to do!"

"You need the exercise," Cobra Commander snapped. "Besides, these jewels will sell for a lot of money on the black market and I'm not taking any chances of any screw ups. With me personally supervising this mission, nothing will go wrong!"

Suddenly the wall exploded. Through the hole appeared Madame Hydra, Gauntlet and several Hydra soldiers. "You were saying?" Destro sighed.

"Out of our way fools!" Madame Hydra snapped. "We are taking this treasure for the glory of Hydra!"

"Fat chance Lady!" Cobra Commander snapped. "We got here first!"

"I've heard of you," Gauntlet looked at Destro. "You're Destro. And that must be…"

"Cobra Commander yes," Destro sighed. "From what my intelligence states you are Gauntlet."

"And I am Madame Hydra!" The woman hissed. "Leader of Hydra."

"Oh yeah," Cobra Commander folded his arms. "Also known as Viper. I've heard about you and how you've fallen on hard times. It's sad what they're saying about you. But then again to have your organization nearly destroyed by one of your own research subjects…"

"At least none of them were able to take over my **job!"** Madame Hydra snapped.

"You take that back you…" Cobra Commander began to advance when he was stopped by the Baroness.

"You know we really shouldn't be fighting," The Baroness said sweetly. "Especially since we have so much in common."

"Oh yes we should," Cobra Commander snapped. "It'll be fun!"

"Not so fast," Destro said. "My dear Madame Hydra, it's clear to me that we can both benefit from an alliance."

"WHAT?" Cobra Commander shouted. "Are you out of your mind?"

"Commander…" Destro warned. "Let me be frank. I know your organization is faltering. Cobra can help you regain your former glory."

"For a price," Madame Hydra growled.

"A partnership," Destro said. "A **secret** partnership."

"Why so secret?" Gauntlet grinned. "Would it have anything to do with the alliance you have created with Magneto?"

"How do you know about that?" Cobra Commander snapped.

"It is our business to know these things," Gauntlet said. "I take it though one day you would tire of your alliance with Magneto?"

"It is a possibility," Destro grinned.

"Wait a minute are you suggesting…?" Cobra Commander began. "Yes…Yes I like it…"

"It would seem that in our time of need we could use an ally," Madame Hydra thought carefully. "Perhaps we should forge an alliance…For now…"

"And who knows?" Destro grinned. "Perhaps we can both get revenge on the X-Men?"

"Yes," Madame Hydra grinned. "Especially on a certain Weapon X and his little clone too…"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"THIS PLACE IS A DUMP!" A very pregnant Mystique stormed into the middle of the Dreadnoks' rec. room. "There's soda cans and donut boxes everywhere!"

"Yeah like you didn't contribute to the mess Ms. Piggy," Zanya grumbled.

"Zartan!" Mystique kicked the chair he was sitting in. "ZARTAN! CLEAN UP THIS PIGSTY NOW!"

"Picky! Picky! Picky! The honeymoon is definitely over!" Zartan shouted.

"You're damn right the honeymoon is over!" Mystique hissed. "I have had it! I am telling you this, as soon as this child is born I am **out** of here!"

"Thank you lord!" Zarana shouted.

"Behold the power of prayer!" Zandar added.

"You'd better not be thinking of taking my kid with you!" Zartan snapped. "What are you gonna do? Take him on assassination missions? Trust me, it doesn't work!"

"You know how hard it is to aim a weapon while having one of those baby strap on things on your back?" Zandar added. "It's not easy!"

"Relax Pop, it's an empty threat and she knows it," Zanya sneered. "Where is someone like **her **gonna go with a baby?"

"Well she could run back to Bucket Head," Zarana said.

"Magneto?" Mystique snapped. "I've already lost **two **of my children because of him, I have no desire to lose a third!"

"You're gonna lose your **teeth** if you don't stop…" Zanya made a fist. She never finished her sentence because an explosion rocked the room. "What the…"

The door burst in and two ninjas clad in red appeared with drawn swords. One threw throwing stars with his free hand. Zartan got up and shoved Mystique out of the way in time. Before Mystique knew it, Zanya threw a smoke bomb and she was being hustled to the secret garage. "What is going on here?" She gasped.

"Those damn Red Ninjas!" Zanya snapped. "How the hell did they find us?"

"Maybe they bribed another Cobra official?" Ripper said as he shot off another round of ammo, keeping them covered.

"Get in! Get in!" Zartan shoved Mystique onto a motorboat. "Split up! We'll meet back at Temple Beta!"

The next thing Mystique knew they were flying at high speed over the water. "They're following us!" Mystique shouted as she saw two ski jets with two more Red Ninjas trailing them.

"I should have known! You're too tempting a prize for them to let go!" Zartan groaned. "Well at least I know they probably won't go after Zanya."

"Me? Why me? Why would they be after me?" Mystique glared at Zartan. "And why not Zanya?"

"Uh…That's kind of a long story actually," Zartan gulped. "Basically it's a revenge sort of thing."

"Revenge?" Mystique snapped. "You don't mean…"

"They're a bit miffed at me killing their leader and bringing dishonor to one of their clan yes," Zartan sighed. "And they want nothing more than to see me and any male heirs I have skewered."

"You lousy…" Mystique let loose a torrent of obscenities which were overshadowed by the sound of gunfire from their pursuers.

"Could you do me a favor?" Zartan shouted as he handed her a weapon. "Shoot at the ninjas firing on us?"

"You good for nothing…" Mystique aimed.

BAM!

"Pathetic…"

BAM!

"Complete and utter a…"

BAM! BAM!

Despite the nausea she felt, Mystique actually managed to hit the Red Ninja's craft. After a while they were deep in the jungle. "I think we lost them!" Mystique snapped. "No thanks to you!"

"Me? I'm the one who drove us out of there!" Zartan snapped. "We would have gone faster if it wasn't for all the ballast you're carrying!"

"This **ballast **as you call it, is your doing! Or don't you remember knocking me up?"

"Look we don't have time for this now," Zartan muttered. "This boat is running low on fuel and if I know those Red Ninjas they're probably still after us. The only way to save both our hides is to split up!"

"Can you honestly say you care more about saving your own skin than your wife and child?" Mystique snapped.

"Yeah that about covers it," Zartan said. "No hard feelings?"

"And how do you suggest I get to Temple Beta when I don't even know where it is?" Mystique shouted.

"That is a problem but don't worry," Zartan said. "If you're not dead in a few weeks I'll come looking for the kid and you."

"I hope you are not suggesting what I **think **you are suggesting!" Mystique snapped.

"Hey, you're a survivor," Zartan told her. "You'll do fine. Just turn into a whale or something. You're already halfway there." He shoved her over the edge and into the water. He turned on the gas and sped off. "I'll lead 'em away from you if I can!"

"ZARTAN!" Mystique screamed. "ZARTAN YOU ROTTEN LOUSY….I WANT A DIVORCE!"


	24. Family Insanity

**Family Insanity**

Two days after the fiasco with Glory and the Fantastic Four another series of events began in the most innocent of ways. With a phone call.

"**Who **called Jubilee?" Logan asked Xavier. Rina was with him and Jubilee in Xavier's office.

"My Aunt Hope," Jubilee said. "She wants to visit me."

"I didn't know you had an aunt," Logan said.

"Apparently my aunt had a big blow out with my parents years ago," Jubilee said. "I haven't seen her since I was a baby."

"She's not gonna try and take you out of the Institute again is she?" Rina frowned.

"No, she's not asking for custody or anything like that," Jubilee shook her head. "She just wants to see me. I think she kind of knows that this is the best place for me but she wants to be in my life again. And to be honest so do I. Logan you and X are my family now. And you guys always will be. But this is a chance for me to connect with…You know…My old family. And it's only for a few weeks."

"Few weeks?" Logan asked.

"She's staying in town on business for aday and wants to visit me," Jubilee said. "And maybe later in the summer I'd visit her. I mean I'd put her up here but she said she didn't want to intrude. And to be honest I didn't really press her that hard. I mean…come on, X-Men and visitors? So not a good combination."

"I can understand you wanting to connect with a blood relative," Rina admitted.

"Well the background check Charles ran on her seems okay," Logan sighed. "And I guess it couldn't hurt you to know your family for a while."

"And she doesn't even seem to mind mutants," Jubilee said. "She even suggested we all get together for dinner one night and…"

"HEY GUYS! WE'RE ON TV AGAIN!" Jamie stuck his head in and shouted. "And there's a ton of reporters outside! And a lot of people with signs and stuff!"

"Oh lord what did we do **now?"** Logan groaned as they followed Jamie to the living room, where every X-Man in the house was parked in front of the TV.

"What the heck is going on?" Jubilee asked. "Why are there so many reporters and protestors outside **this **time?"

"Is it more fallout from Mole Man's pet or more fanatical Glory supporters?" Logan asked. "Personally I'm hoping for the former. I can't take getting sprayed with more perfume!"

"I'm afraid it's our fault," Jesse D sighed. He was there with Kitty's parents and Donald. Kitty was between her mother and father.

"Your fault?" Logan asked. "How?"

"Those **vultures **followed us!" Donald snapped. "All the way from our therapy session in New York. You should have seen it! It was like the OJ Simpson car chase without the police!"

"This is awful," Kitty moaned. "Oh Jesse…"

"Kitty they would have figured out I was a mutant sooner or later," Jesse D sighed. "I was just hoping for later. Much later."

"Wait, you've been outed as a mutant?" Jubilee asked.

"Unofficially," Jesse D sighed.

"How did they find out?" Logan asked.

"You can see for yourself," Jesse D pointed to the screen.

Trish Tilby was outside reporting. "I'm Trish Tilby live at the Xavier Institute. Not even a week after the infamous arrest of magazine publisher/starlet Glory and the allegations of the Fantastic Four secretly supporting the Xavier Institute, another scandal has broken. Popular Video DJ Jesse D has been outed as a mutant and is currently within the walls of the Xavier Institute. This dramatic video shows Jesse D using his powers."

The video showed that Jesse D was creating a force field around himself when some pyrotechnics went off. "I was just checking out the stage for one of our shows," Jesse D explained. "When all of the sudden all the pyrotechnics went off like crazy. I wasn't hurt and I used a force field to contain the damage. I didn't know anyone was there. A few days later while we're waiting at the therapist's office I see **this **on TV!"

"Do you know who sent out the tape?" Scott asked.

"Not a clue!" Jesse D said.

"It's now been confirmed that Jesse D is in fact related to Hector 'Shipwreck' Delgado of GI Joe," Trish continued. "You may also remember that Mr. Delgado is in fact one of the handlers of the Misfits, the military mutant team. In fact Jesse D is the cousin of the mutant known as Wavedancer, the leader of the team."

"And the Misfits take center stage again," Scott groaned.

"Let them **have** this one Scott!" Kitty snapped.

"How much you wanna bet that incident was staged?" Logan growled.

"Staged? How?" Kitty asked.

"WHO DID THIS?" Shipwreck stormed in with the rest of the Misfits. "WHO THE HELL DID THIS TO YOU JESSE? I WANT NAMES SO I CAN WRITE THEM ON THEIR TOMBSTONES!"

"Are you okay Jesse?" Althea asked giving her cousin a hug.

"Well I've been better," Jesse D admitted. "Logan thinks the whole thing was staged to expose my powers."

"I believe it," Todd grumbled. "But how did they know about you in the first place?"

"Did you tell anyone you worked with that you're a mutant?" Cover Girl asked.

"Not a soul, only the owner of the station knew," Jesse D said. "But he wouldn't tell anyone."

"Maybe he didn't," Arcade held up a laptop. "I've been going over the video digitally. Take a look in the window on the left. There's a reflection of someone with a camera. It was mostly hidden by the special effects but if I clean it up and put this together." An image of a scraggly haired man with a camera could be shown. "You recognize this guy?"

"Yeah," Jesse D said. "I know him. He's one of the effects guys the station hired recently. Kind of weird and kept to himself but he kept getting in trouble for shooting his mouth off about…"

"About what?" Kitty asked.

"I don't believe I didn't figure this out sooner," Jesse D said. "He's real big into Purity. Kept telling everyone how Stryker was gonna save the planet from hell. His evangelism got on a lot of people's nerves at the station. He was nearly fired last time."

"So Purity staged the whole thing so Jesse D could use his powers?" Todd scratched his head. "But why? I mean how would that guy even suspect Jesse D of being a mutant? It don't make sense!"

"Yes it does," Kitty's fists clenched. "Stryker!"

"Stryker?" Donald asked. "What does that maniac have to do with anything?"

"Stryker's the force behind Purity remember?" Lance told him. "And he's got a vendetta against Kitty."

"All mutants actually but I think Kitty somehow managed to be his favorite target," Jubilee said.

"Well yeah I mean all I did was stop his plans, tell him off in front of the whole world and prevented him from escaping jail!" Kitty shouted. "This is all **my** fault!"

"That's bull!" Lance shouted. "It's not your fault!"

"For once I am in agreement with him," Peter grunted. "Purity is the one that staged this fiasco, not you!"

"But **that's** not staged!" Tabitha pointed. There were several pictures of Jesse D and Kitty's mother in compromising positions.

"Holy crap!" Todd's jaw dropped as another picture was shown. It was Mrs. Pryde and Jesse D in a very compromising position.

"Oh my god!" Kitty screamed. "MOM!"

"Oh dear..." Mrs. Pryde's face turned bright red.

"As if this story wasn't bizarre enough it seems that Jesse D is having an affair with Mrs. Katherine Pryde," Trish reported. "A woman not only twice his age but the mother of Kitty 'Shadowcat' Pryde, one of the famed X-Men. Earlier this month Kitty Pryde had an altercation with the Reverend Stryker when he attempted to escape from custody at his trial." Scenes of Kitty falling through the sky with Stryker were shown.

"We also have learned that Ms. Pryde's father, Carmen Pryde left his wife to have a homosexual affair with the uncle of **another** student at the Xavier Institute," Trish spoke as pictures of Kitty's father and Doug's uncle were shown. "It was shortly after the separation Mrs. Pryde found love with Jesse D."

"Oh my god…" Donald said. "I look so fat!"

"The media is going to tear us **all** to shreds over this!" Mr. Pryde said. "And all you can think about is how you look?"

"Well if you gotta go down," Donald said. "At least go down looking good."

"Can't argue with that," Pietro shrugged.

"It's really hit the fan now," Ray groaned.

"Maybe it's just as well you're aunt isn't going to be staying with us," Rina said to Jubilee.

"How did they find out about all of us?" Kitty asked.

"How does any one of these sleazes find out anything?" Rogue grumbled. "Probably rooted through the garbage where they feel most at home!"

"Was this relationship a result of Mrs. Pryde trying to restore her fragile ego?" Trish asked. "Or was there really an attraction between the two? Did her own daughter bring them together?"

"That is a total lie!" Kitty shouted.

"Yeah you screamed in your room for hours after you learned you might end up related to a Misfit," Todd said.

"**Anybody **would scream in their room for hours after learning they might be related to a Misfit!" Scott said.

"This just in: We now know that the name of Mr. Pryde's lover is Donald Ramsey, a respected businessman and banker," Trish spoke. "Is he a mutant as well? And if not, how much does he know about his lover's family? Did he even know that his own nephew, Douglas Ramsey is reportedly a mutant himself? What powers does Douglas have and are they a danger to society?"

"Oh my Dad must be **loving **this!" Doug put his head into his hands.

"Have you called your bosses at the station?" Roadblock asked Jesse D. "And told them about the situation?"

"Let's just say they're talking with their lawyers," Jesse D sighed. "However I did tell Steve Szbago, the guy who owns the network I was a mutant a while back. We went to college together. So it's not like this is completely out of the blue for him."

"Unfortunately we're not so lucky," Mr. Pryde admitted.

"My firm doesn't even know I'm **gay**, much less **who** I'm **dating!"** Donald groaned. "On the up side maybe now my boss' wife will stop hitting on me."

"How do we keep getting into situations like this?" Jubilee groaned. "It's like that family on the show Arrested Development. You know where weird things happen to them every week and they keep getting into trouble?"

"Talk about art imitating life. This day cannot possibly get any worse," Rogue groaned.

"Sources close to the…" Trish continued. Suddenly she was interrupted by some kind of commotion. "What the…? Oh my god!"

A van was careening down the street straight towards the protestors in front of the gates. Of course the driver of the van was not doing that bad a job, considering men in two cars behind the van were firing upon it. People screamed and ran as the van headed straight for the gates of the Institute and bullets flew everywhere. "It's headed right for the gate!" Kitty shouted.

"You had to say that didn't you Stripes?" Logan shouted as the X-Men and Misfits ran outside. The van crashed through the gate, miraculously not hitting any of the news people and protestors. "Storm! We need some cover here!"

"Understood!" Immediately Ororo created a huge fog bank. "Rogue! Kitty! Provide assistance to whoever's inside!"

"We gotta stop them! They're getting away!" Jean said as she sensed the drivers of the cars peeling off.

"Damnit! Where the hell did this fog come from?" One thug shouted.

"Who cares! Let's get out of here!" Another shouted. "Hey! Where the hell did this ice come from! The road is covered in it!"

The two cars slammed into each other. Jean, Scott and Bobby disarmed the thugs with ease. One thug tried to escape but Kurt teleported and knocked him down. Another thug tried to shoot at the mutants only to have his bullets blocked by Peter in his armored form.

Several police cars screamed up and started to pull out their weapons at both the thugs and the mutants. "Stop right there! Hands in the air! All of you!"

"We're on your side dudes!" Bobby snapped.

Meanwhile Kitty and Rogue helped the woman inside the mansion. She was blonde and rather large. "Help me inside! Please!" The woman pleaded.

"Geeze lady you seem to be in a heap full of trouble," Rogue said as they brought her inside.

"You have no idea how right you are…" The woman panted as she changed her shape.

"YOU!" Rogue shouted when she realized whom the driver of the van was.

"Hello Rogue," Mystique said. "We need to talk…"

**Next: Guess who's coming to dinner? He he…**


	25. Mystique is Moving In

**Mystique is Moving In**

"Is this **really **necessary?" Mystique snapped. She was wearing an inhibitor collar as well as handcuffs, shackles on her legs and was being guarded by two SHEILD agents.

"Yes," Scott snapped. In the war room, Xavier and some of the X-Men were conferring with Nick Fury and General Hawk. The X-Men in attendance were Kurt, Scott, Jean, Logan and a very angry Rogue.

"They're not exactly comfortable in my condition you know?" Mystique sniffed.

"I'm not exactly comfortable being in the same **room **with you," Rogue snapped. "But if I gotta tolerate it, so do you!"

"Let's go over this again," Nick Fury sighed. "Mystique you claim that you're being hunted down by some ninjas wearing red?"

"It's not a claim, my life is in danger!" Mystique snapped. "I came here for sanctuary!"

"Talk about bad judgement," Rogue snorted. "What? Your husband bail on you before you bailed on him?"

"Pretty much," Mystique admitted.

"Wait, I may not know much about ninjas," Kurt held up his hand. "But I do know they don't usually use guns in broad daylight."

"They were somebody else I'd never seen before," Mystique said. "Probably hired by the Red Ninjas."

"And I got a good idea who after we talked with one of the suspects you X-Men caught. Have you ever heard of the Pride?" Nick Fury asked.

"I have," Hawk nodded. "They're some kind of criminal organization on the West Coast right?"

"From what we know the Pride controls nearly all the crime in not only LA but in the entire state of California," Nick Fury said. "They've also been rivals with the Kingpin for years but since they've stayed mostly in one state, the two powers pretty much have a truce. Until now."

"Why now?" Scott asked. "What's changed?"

"We don't know for sure but for some reason the Pride has been really aggressive with expanding their territory since the beginning of this year," Fury told them. "Especially since X23 cut Hydra to pieces and severely weakened it. A lot of their bases and operations are up for grabs."

"And both the Kingpin and the Pride want to do the grabbing," Logan pieced it together.

"It gets better," Fury handed them some pictures. "These were taken from a surveillance camera recently. It seems that Hydra has some kind of alliance with Cobra now."

"But Cobra has an alliance with Magneto," Mystique said. "Of course we all know **that's** not going to last!"

"What?" Rogue gasped. "You mean Bucket Head and Snake Face are working together? Why?"

"I don't really know, some kind of supply deal," Mystique skillfully lied. "In case you haven't noticed, Magneto and I aren't exactly close lately."

"I think I'm seeing how things are falling into place," Xavier folded his fingers. "Remember when you were questioning Douglas Ramsey about the Hellfire Club? Didn't he say that there was a rumor that the Kingpin was trying to get membership into that society?"

"Yeah," Fury said. "I see it. And the Hellfire Club and Magneto are at odds with each other. So on one side we have the Kingpin and the Hellfire Club…"

"The other has Cobra and Magneto…" Mystique thought aloud. "But with Cobra's secret alliance with Hydra that's a powder keg that could explode at any minute."

"Add in the Pride…" Hawk thought. "Who must have made an alliance with the Red Ninjas! And getting Zartan and Mystique must be the clincher for that deal!"

"Why? What do I have to do with all this?" Mystique snapped.

"The Red Ninjas are a splinter group of the Arashikage Clan," Hawk told her. "Long story short, they split up when your husband killed their clan leader and blamed it on Storm Shadow. When the truth was discovered they became even more fanatical. They believe that their honor cannot be fully restored until Zartan and all his male heirs are sacrificed."

"That kid you're carrying…" Logan looked at Mystique. "It's a boy ain't it?"

"Yes and it's also a mutant," Mystique sighed. "The Cobra doctors told me that on my last check up that it will probably be a shape shifter."

"I will have a brother…?" Kurt gasped.

"Not if the Red Ninjas and the Pride have their way," Fury said. "In other words Mystique you are smack dab in the middle of a gang war. Probably the biggest gang war in the history of gang wars. Unless you want to be a casualty I suggest you cooperate."

"Okay what do you want to know?" Mystique said quickly.

"So let me get this straight," Scott grunted. "In order to save your skin and your kid's you're willing to sell out your husband, Cobra and Magneto?"

"You got it," Mystique said.

"Why am I not surprised?" Logan grunted. "So why don't you just question her at SHEILD headquarters and get her out of here?"

"Oh we'll talk, but not at headquarters," Fury grunted. "We're still undergoing renovations from our **last** encounter with you guys! Besides we've had a few security breaches lately and I don't need another one. Which reminds me Logan, Omega Red is one of them."

"That nutcase from Hydra?" Logan asked. "He's free?"

"Along with a half dozen other super criminals," Fury sighed. "We think either the Kingpin or some other crime leader organized a jailbreak. To say we haven't had a good month at SHEILD is an understatement."

"Didn't he want to kill you?" Scott asked Logan.

"Yeah and I have no clue why," Logan grumbled.

"Actually…I do," Fury fidgeted. "Apparently in the early 80's you were part of some kind of undercover mission in the Soviet Union. They were experimenting with their own super soldier program. According to our sources you, Sabertooth and two other mutants took him down and got him imprisoned in ice for a couple decades. He's a bit miffed about that."

"Wait, **Sabertooth?**" Logan growled. "Are you seriously telling me I actually worked with that scumbag? Why the hell didn't ever you tell me this?"

"Give me a break! I only found out myself two days ago!" Fury shot back. "And it turns out one of your other partners from back then helped in the breakout!"

"What partner? Who?" Logan was in shock.

"He goes by the name of Maverick," Fury took out a picture and showed him.

"What do you know about this guy?" Logan asked.

"I was hoping you'd tell me!" Fury said.

"To be honest Fury I wouldn't know him from Adam, much less…" Logan began.

"**Excuse me**," Mystique fidgeted. "As **fascinating** as all this has been taking a trip down memory lane, what's going to happen to me and my child?"

"Uh, you're going to jail, duh!" Rogue snapped.

"Not if Fury wants information on Magneto," Mystique hissed. "And you know your telepaths can't take it from my mind."

"Why am I not surprised?" Hawk folded his arms. "You tried to assassinate a United States Senator, attempted to overthrow the United States Government and were in league with some of the biggest terrorists on the planet. Not to mention a few other dozen offenses including theft, destruction of property, child abuse and attempted murder! You seriously think you're going to just walk?"

"No, but I'm sure we can work out a deal," Mystique told him smugly. "I've got information on both Cobra and Magneto that your intelligence officers would kill for. Including how far Magneto is on the Bio Pulse and what his plans are for it."

"She's got a point," Hawk admitted.

"We can't put her in a normal prison," Fury growled. "Even a military prison wouldn't be secure enough for a witch like her. Too many people would want to break her out! And since SHIELD has too many security problems at the moment…Damnit! Xavier I'm gonna have to ask you a favor."

"Don't say it…" Rogue said. "Please don't let it be what I think it is!"

"I kind of need you to look after Mystique for a while," Fury sighed.

"Oh god…" Rogue moaned. "No…"

"I'm afraid it's out of the question," Xavier said.

"YES!" Rogue shouted raising a fist in the air. "Thank you Professor!"

"WHAT?" Kurt yelled. "Why?"

"You have a few hours?" Rogue shouted. "There is no way on earth I am going to stay under the same roof with that conniving witch!"

"Well that's a nice thing to call your pregnant mother," Mystique grumbled.

"Believe me, I could call you a lot **worse**," Rogue growled at her.

"It's not just your feelings I'm taking into consideration Rogue," Xavier said. "I will not place my students in any danger if I can help it. From what I have heard about these Red Ninjas and their affiliates, it would be unwise to put the Institute in the line of fire."

"Yeah we already got the FOH, Cobra, Magneto and Purity with a vendetta against us," Logan said. "And let's not forget the Hellfire Club."

"So what's one more?" Kurt asked.

"Two more," Jean pointed out. "The Kingpin **and** the Pride."

"And I'll bet Omega Red would love to even the score with me," Logan grunted.

"Don't forget Hydra," Rogue said. "I'm sure they'd do anything to get X back!"

"All the more reason she can't go!" Kurt pleaded.

"Have you forgotten that she blew up the mansion once and nearly killed half the students inside?" Scott said. "She's too dangerous! We can't risk holding her here. Besides she should be locked up!"

"But my brother shouldn't be!" Kurt shouted.

"He won't! Like I said we'll yank him out as soon as he's born!" Rogue snapped.

"That's cruel! She's his mother!" Kurt defended. "You can't just take him away from Mystique! It wouldn't be good for the baby!"

"Why not? It worked out for you!" Rogue shot back. "Hell, I wish I had your deal sometimes!"

"I accidentally dropped your brother from a cliff!" Mystique snapped. "You really think that's better than the home I gave you?"

"Like I said…Still better than being lied to all my life…" Rogue told her.

"I gotta agree with Rogue on this one Kurt," Scott said. "We're not exactly talking Mother of the Year here. The Mother from Hell maybe but…"

"I get the message!" Mystique shouted. "Look I know I made some mistakes with the two of you…"

"**Some** mistakes?" Jean's jaw dropped.

"Don't forget Graydon!" Rogue added. "We all know how **great **he turned out!"

"And he was with her the longest," Scott added. "Think of how much damage she'll do with this kid if she's left alone with him! Even **Shipwreck's **a better parent than her and you know that's saying something!"

"Why can't you give me a chance?" Mystique snapped.

"Uh maybe because you're a backstabbing whore who'd sacrifice your kids for your own selfish needs?" Rogue shouted.

"Don't you dare call me a whore!" Mystique shouted.

"That's right Rogue," Jean said. "It would be insulting to all the **other **whores out there."

"Talk about the pot calling the kettle black you red headed…" Mystique struggled to hit her, only to be held back by the guards.

"ALL RIGHT KNOCK IT OFF!" Fury shouted. "Come on Xavier you gotta help me here!"

"I'm willing to take in the baby but I'm afraid Mystique is on her own," Xavier said. "Like I said it's too dangerous to have her here."

"But we have to protect her!" Kurt said. "I know she's done horrible things, but she's still a mutant in need! And what about the baby? You can't tell me you want any baby born in a jail cell! It isn't right!"

"Kurt have you **seen **all the cameramen and protesters outside our gates?" Scott shouted. "They're already in a feeding frenzy because of Kitty and her family! What? You wanna take a chance that they'd find out that we were housing one of the world's most wanted mutant terrorists as well?"

"We're just lucky Mystique didn't change shape until we got her inside and away from the cameras!" Logan agreed. "The media thinks that we've just given shelter to some woman who may or may not be a mutant from some deranged gang members who tried to rob her. By the way, thanks for the cover story Hawk."

"No problem," Hawk waved. "But I don't know how long that will hold water if she stays here."

"There are people who would use that information to try and close the Institute down," Xavier told him. "Taking Mystique in would only confirm their suspicions about us."

"He's right," Fury sighed. "I didn't think about that. She can't stay here. We're just going to have to stash her somewhere else."

"Good! How about Alcatraz?" Rogue snapped. "I hear it's lovely this time of year. Cut down the tourists and she'd have the whole place to herself."

"I was thinking more along the lines of Camp Cupcake," Mystique said. "Considering my condition."

"You are no Martha Stewart!" Scott snapped. "You're really milking this aren't you?"

"See Kurt, our brother isn't even **born **yet and she's **already** using him!" Rogue shouted. "What more proof do you need?"

"Well I have to put her somewhere!" Fury was getting frustrated.

"Actually I have an idea…" Hawk grinned.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"It's official…" Mystique grumbled as she slumped in her seat. "I'm in Hell."

"No you're just with the Misfits," Shipwreck sneered. "A lot of people make that mistake!" Shipwreck, Low Light and Cover Girl had placed Mystique in a spare room at the Misfit Manor downstairs near the medical facility. Even though she was no longer in shackles, she still was forced to wear the inhibitor collar.

"Lucky for you years ago Stormshadow made some kind of truce with the Red Ninjas," Low Light folded his arms. "As long as you're on this base they won't touch you."

"But even then I wouldn't hold my breath," Shipwreck said. "These Red Ninjas have been known to break a pact when it suits them."

"Well **that **certainly makes me feel safe," Mystique grumbled.

"If it wasn't for that kid inside you I'd lock you up in the deepest darkest hole imaginable," Low Light hissed. "But no baby deserves to be born in a prison so you're going to stay here under house arrest. That collar you've got on also has a tracking device. If you so much as **glance **over fifteen feet outside of this house we'll know about it. So don't get any cute ideas of escaping."

"I couldn't even if I tried!" Mystique hissed. "Even without this charming necklace my shapeshifiting powers are extremely limited due to my condition. And even if I **did **manage to escape without my powers there's nowhere for me to go without getting blown up to kingdom come!"

"Normally that would suit us fine, but for now you're our houseguest," Cover Girl told her. "So watch it!" The three of them left the room. Cover Girl made a point of locking the door behind her. "Like I'd let that witch out without an escort."

"This isn't going to be easy…" Shipwreck sighed as they went into the living room where the Misfits and the other adults were gathered. Many of them had signs of pure rage on their faces.

"Is this the part where you tell us we have to be nice to the Blue Bitch of the West?" Lance snarled. His arms were shaking with rage.

"Look I know how you kids feel," Roadblock sighed. "But at this point you have to deal…"

"Deal?" Lance exploded with rage. "You don't know how much I'm holding back right now! You weren't whipped like an animal and beaten several times!"

"She's not getting **near** the babies if I can help it," Althea snarled. "If she even looks at them cross-eyed…"

"Look how she treats her own kids," Pietro snapped. "Then again compared to Magneto…"

"Well if there's ever an argument for birth control it's sitting downstairs!" Althea snarled.

"Take it easy, Al," Todd told her.

"Take it **easy**?" Althea shouted. "**You **of all people shouldn't be saying that! Why are you so calm about this? She nearly killed you and left you for dead and now you're stuck in the same house with her!"

"No, **she's **stuck here with **me,"** A very evil smile crossed his face. "And accidents **do **happen."

"Ohhhh," Fred grinned. "**Now** I get it!"

"Oh yeah," Lance thought. "Maybe this won't be so bad after all?"

"Maybe Mystique was safer with the Red Ninjas?" Low Light groaned.

"Okay kids," Cover Girl said. "You can't hit her or do anything that might endanger the baby's health like poison her or anything like that."

"Other than that…" Roadblock grinned. "Use your imagination."

"So because she's pregnant we can't kill her?" Xi asked.

"Yes Xi," Roadblock sighed. "That is the idea for this little chat here."

"Once the kid's out we can hit her right?" Todd raised his hand.

"Yeah I guess that's fair," Roadblock said. "You can kick her derriere!"

"In that case when's she due?" Lance grinned.

"The doc's say three weeks," Shipwreck said. "But judging by her stomach I'd say any time now."

"How about a caesarian?" Pietro called out. "Get it out right now?"

"No," Shipwreck grinned. "We're going to let her have natural childbirth…But for some reason the painkillers will mysteriously…disappear."

"You gotta be…" Althea's jaw dropped. Then she grinned. "Oh man that **is** evil!"

"Normally I wouldn't wish that on **any** woman but this is an extreme exception," Cover Girl grinned. "And that's just the beginning if I know you kids."

"Is she really that horrible?" Lina asked.

"Trust us Lina," Lance told her. "You don't know this witch like we do. She'd cut off your wings and gouge your eyes out if it suits her."

"You're all going to drive her insane aren't you?" Lina sighed, resigning herself to it.

"Pretty much yeah," Todd told her. "Like it's a bad thing."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Hey! Let me out!" Mystique pounded on the door. "Let me out! I need to use the bathroom here!"

"There's a bedpan nearby, use that."

"The hell I will! You…" Mystique then realized she wasn't alone in the room. She turned around and saw a ninja clad in white holding a very sharp sword at her throat. "How did you…? Who…?"

"Hello Mystique," Storm Shadow hissed. "They call me Storm Shadow. Let's have a chat now shall we?"


	26. Now The Fun Begins

**Now The Fun Begins**

"GET THESE COCKROACHES OUT OF MY CEREAL!" Mystique screamed. She was at the kitchen table with Todd, Lance, Pietro, Fred and Roadblock. She was not having a good first morning at the aptly named Misfit Manor.

"Actually they're grasshoppers," Todd pointed out. "Full of yummy protein!"

"Yeah we thought all pregnant women had weird cravings," Pietro chuckled.

"Weird! Not **psychotic!**" Mystique threw the cereal at the wall.

"With you it's the same thing," Lance commented.

"Awww, Mystique made a mess," Fred mused. "Now you have to clean it up!"

"Listen you degenerates…" Mystique hissed. "Don't think I don't know what you're doing! I knew that you'd try to rattle me with your childish petty antics even before I stepped through this door to Hell. Go ahead and enjoy your pathetic revenge while you can."

"Thank you," Pietro interrupted. "We will."

"Well you're **not **going to break me!" Mystique slammed her fist on the table. "All your stupid little tricks…Calling me Shamu… Posting those lovely drawings of my head exploding all over the walls…Playing the theme music to 'Rosemary's Baby' while I'm trying to sleep…Stuffing three-day-old Limburger cheese in my closet…Well that last one backfired! I ate it all! All three pounds of it! HA! SO WHO'S CRAZY NOW HUH? SURE I HAD A BOWEL MOVEMENT FOR FOUR HOURS BUT IT WAS WORTH IT! HA!"

"Yeah, we sure underestimated **you**," Lance smirked.

"If you think that I'm going to…" Mystique took a sip from her tea and stopped. There was a cockroach swimming in it. "AAAHHH!"

"Oops," Todd grinned. "How clumsy of me. I must have dropped a live one in there while I was cooking up the others."

"I am going to be sick!" Mystique held her hand over her mouth and stumbled into the nearest bathroom. "AAGGGHH! WHO FILLED IT UP WITH SHAVING CREAM? ARE THOSE SNAKES? AAAAHHHHH!"

"Who did that?" Lance asked.

"Wasn't me," Pietro looked at Todd.

"Not me either," Todd said.

"Well," Roadblock whistled. "I guess I must have had a little 'accident'."

"So did Mystique…" Wanda snickered as she walked in with Arcade. Arcade was using his portable laptop.

"I'LL GET YOU ALL FOR THIS! I SWEAR IF IT'S THE LAST THING I'LL DO…WHAT IS THAT SMELL?"

Low Light walked in. "Okay who forgot to clean the diaper bin?"

"Forgot is a subjective term," Roadblock grinned. "You kids aren't the only ones who wanna see Mystique squirm."

"So what's new, besides Mystique having a freak out in our bathroom?" Low Light asked. "What are you looking at Arcade?"

"Oh just blogs and other news websites chronicling how the Misfits and the X-Men took down Glory and all the other scandals going on," Arcade said. "Comments about Kitty's little family scandal, our links with the Fantastic Four…All that stuff."

"Do people hate us for busting Glory?" Wanda asked.

"Well that's a funny story…" Arcade said. "According to their web site the I Hate Glory Club thinks we're heroes. But for some reason all the Glory supporters are blaming the X-Men! Not us. Weird."

"Well ain't that a kick in the head?" Todd chuckled.

"It's not funny Toad," Low Light said. "Things are really getting ugly at the Institute."

"GET THEM OFF! GET THEM OFF!" Mystique tried to run away from several bats chasing her.

"But they just want to be your friends!" Daria called out after her.

"Yeah from one fellow bloodsucker to another," Quinn said.

"Actually those bats don't suck blood," Brittany said. "They just like blueberries a lot and…"

"YEOW! THEY'RE BITING ME! SOMEBODY GET ME OUT OF THIS NUTHOUSE!" Mystique screamed.

"Things are pretty ugly around here too," Todd grinned.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Every time I think that our lives can not get any more like a freaking soap opera…" Ray grumbled as he looked out the window. "Is it me or are there even **more **reporters out there than there were an hour ago?"

"Get away from the window, Ray," Sam sighed as he slumped into a chair in the living room. Several X-Men were lounging about being very depressed.

"Or what? They're gonna throw a camera at me?" Ray asked sarcastically.

"No, but they could take pictures of you," Sam snapped. "Besides I'm sick of hearing about it!"

"**You're **sick about it?" Kitty glared at Sam. "Hello! **I'm** the one stuck in the middle of this!"

"It's not just **you!**" Bobby snapped. "There are people still buzzing about Glory's arrest! Even though that's the Misfits' fault!"

"Yeah Bobby," Kitty rolled her eyes. "The Misfits made Glory slip and fall on a patch of ice and slide into a mud puddle in front of everyone!"

"Well I'm not the one who invited her here in the **first place!**" Bobby shouted. He glared at Kitty. "You just **had** to enter another contest didn't you?"

"Hey that's right," Ray said. "This is all her fault."

"Thanks a lot!" Kitty shouted. "That really makes me feel better!"

"Well it's true!" Ray shouted back. "You do cause more than your share of drama around here!"

"I do not!" Kitty defended.

"Yeah she's not **that** bad," Kurt said.

"Hey!" Kitty looked at him.

"Oh yeah?" Amara spoke up. "What about that **last **contest you entered and won last year? Remember that?"

"How about all the times you got tickets for your driving whenever Logan or Scott tried to give you lessons on the highway?" Bobby added. "Not to mention a few accidents!"

"If you want to talk about accidents, don't forget her cooking," Jamie added.

"Kitty's cooking is the least of it," Sam mentioned. "Let's not forget the granddaddy of 'em all. That crazy on again, off again love triangle between Avalanche and Colossus! Think about how many times fights have broken out or stuff gets broken or we wake up in the middle of the night with all **that **insanity going on!"

"You're right, that is the worst," Ray thought.

"Oh it is so nice to know that I can count on my friends!" Kitty stood up angrily.

"Well it's not our fault you're a walking disaster!" Ray shouted.

"Ray Crisp you are a dead man!" Kitty screamed and tackled him.

"Should we stop this?" Amara asked.

"Are you crazy? This is the most fun I've had in days!" Sam told her.

"All right knock it off you two!" Scott shouted as he and Jean ran in. They both separated the two combatants. "Save it for the Danger Room which is where you'll be spending a lot more time for a while!"

"Good!" Ray shouted. "Maybe then Kitty can actually do something other than ruin our lives!"

"That was **way **out of line Crisp!" Kurt snapped.

"You wanna do something about it Fuzzy?" Ray said.

"Oh I will do a **lot** of things!" Kurt made a fist.

"We can take him Kurt!" Kitty shouted.

"Not if I turn him into a block of ice first!" Bobby said.

"For what?" Ray shouted.

"For getting on my nerves!" Bobby snapped.

"You get on **all **of our nerves more than he does!" Amara snapped.

"Oh you wanna piece of me?" Bobby asked.

"KNOCK IT OFF!" Jean shouted. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH ALL OF YOU?"

"Besides the fact that we have reporters and protestors at our door, the media is having a field day with us, there are new lawsuits every day and on top of it we gotta deal with Mystique in our lives?" Rogue grumbled as she walked in. "Not much."

"Sorry Jean…" Kurt backed down. "What we have is a serious case of cabin fever."

"Yeah this whole thing has got us **all** on edge," Ray grumbled. "Sorry Kitty. Didn't mean to say most of this is your fault. Even though it is."

"All right you are so **dead**…" Kitty made a fist and began to charge at Ray.

Jean used her telekinesis to hold her back. "Ray get up to your room! Right now before I change my mind and let her go!" Ray ran off. "Kitty calm down."

"Calm down? How can I calm down when he's right!" Kitty began to sniffle. Jean released her and she flung herself on the sofa.

"He is **not** right," Scott told her. "Stryker's the one who exposed your family and Jesse D. Your parents' love lives are their own business. You didn't chase off the Fantastic Four and as for Glory…." He stopped for a moment. "Well maybe you're partially to blame for **that**."

"Thanks a lot!" Kitty snapped and ran up to her room.

"That didn't help did it?" Scott winced.

"No, you think? Maybe we shouldn't have cancelled classes?" Jean sighed.

"Jean not even the Professor can think straight at a time like this," Scott told her. "He and the other adults are too busy handling the possible lawsuits and the press. And the rest of us are just as distracted."

"Distracted? Every time we try to read a book or go to sleep we can hear the news helicopters circling around!" Sam said. "And forget about watching TV! It's either us or some kind of anti-mutant rally going on!"

"It took all my strength to stop Logan from turning a hose on the reporters outside," Jean told them. "Unfortunately Kitty's mom got by me."

"Never thought I'd ever say this," Jamie sighed. "I don't wanna watch TV anymore."

"That is bad," Kurt admitted.

"Yeah and things aren't getting much better," Scott sighed. "You might as well know about this too. Doug was talking to the teaching staff about some of the stuff that went on with the Hellions. Evan was involved in a lot of heavy stuff. He helped massacre an entire building full of FOH supporters."

"Well that explains the sudden thunderstorm this afternoon," Sam whistled. "Ororo must be really feeling low huh?"

"We are all on edge and a little frayed," Hank walked in carrying a group of papers, which he set down on a table.

"More hate mail Beast?" Bobby asked.

"To be fair not all our correspondence is in the category of litigation and/or hate mail," Hank looked at a stack of papers. "Here's one from one of Glory's former publishing rivals. They're giving us a free three year subscription."

"Good," Bobby said jokingly. "Now I'll know what kind of lipstick Brittany Spears wears all year round."

"Here's a note from the Bayville Chamber of Commerce," Hank looked at another letter. "Apparently ever since the latest scandals broke the local hotels and restaurants are overflowed with reporters and protesters overflowing. Business is up by over a hundred and fifty percent. They're requesting we come up with a scandal by Fall."

"Nobody can say mutants don't help the economy," Kurt quipped.

"Oh and here's a telegram from Michael Jackson: Thanks for taking some of the heat off," Hank read. "As well as an invitation for some of us to come to Neverland."

"I think we'll pass on that one," Bobby winced.

"Well it's official," Donald walked in as he was shutting off a cell phone. "I've been fired."

"I'm sorry Donald," Jean said.

"Was it the gay thing or the dating the father of a mutant thing?" Bobby asked.

"A little bit of column A and B," Donald sighed.

"When is it ever going to end?" Amara groaned.

"Who could be in a worse position than us right now?" Sam asked.

"That's easy," Rogue said. "Mystique."

"Oh yeah," Bobby nodded. "That does make me feel better."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Okay who super glued Mystique to the living room wall?" Low Light asked some of the Misfits in the very same room.

"GET ME DOWN FROM HERE!" Mystique shouted.

"I cannot tell a lie," Todd whistled. "Quickie did it!"

"I did it with my little glue gun," Pietro showed him. "Are you mad?"

"You're darn right I'm mad!" Low Light snapped. "Pietro I cannot believe you!"

"That's right! Finally! Lay down the law around here!" Mystique shouted.

"You know very well that she doesn't go with the color scheme in here," Low Light continued. "We have brown and green. She clashes!"

"WHAT?" Mystique raged, struggling to break free.

"I just wanted to bring some color in here," Pietro said.

"We could always redecorate," Wanda said. "Paint the walls so she'll match."

"Nah too much work," Fred waved. "I'm gonna go get a sandwich."

"Yeah that's a good idea," Althea said as the Misfits started to leave.

"WHAT ABOUT ME?" Mystique screamed.

"What about you?" Todd asked. "You want a sandwich too?"

"GET ME DOWN RIGHT NOW?" Mystique shouted.

"Relax," Pietro waved. "The glue will wear off…Eventually. I think."

"We'll find the glue remover after lunch," Low Light told him. "I feel like a sandwich too."

"AND I FEEL LIKE GETTING OUT OF THIS NUTHOUSE!" Mystique shouted. "GET ME DOWN! NOW! IS ANYONE LISTENING TO ME? HELP!"

**Next: The gang has more fun and madness. But the fun is interrupted when someone crashes the party! **


	27. Comforting and Craziness

**Comforting and Craziness**

Low Light sighed as he sat up. Another nightmare. This one was worse than usual. He knew the sensation all too well. His night terrors had come back with a vengeance. He got out of bed and turned on the light. The clock blinked1:32 AM. With a sigh of resignation he prepared to walk out of his room, intending to go to the kitchen.

He opened the door to find Cover Girl standing there ready to knock. "You heard it didn't you?" Low Light grumbled.

"Kind of hard not to," She admitted. "I was corralling Barney. He tried another breakout so I put him back to bed then I heard…" She stopped. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really, but its better than falling asleep," Low Light admitted. He motioned her into his bedroom and closed the door. "We really gotta soundproof these walls or something."

"What was it about this time?" Cover Girl asked gently. "Your father?"

Low Light shook his head. "My…change."

Cover Girl knew he was referring to his dormant X-gene being forcibly activated by cruel Cobra experimentation. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean…"

"I know…" Low Light said in a tired voice. "It was just a really bad one this time. Like the early days when…When after it happened. I thought I put it behind me but…"

"I remember now…" Cover Girl said. "They wouldn't let anyone see you after you were rescued. Then you left for a few weeks."

"Yeah to recover," Low Light said. "Worse I was…changing in the middle of the night. I'd have a nightmare, wake up and find myself turned completely to stone or metal…One time I burned the bed down because I somehow turned into fire."

"God, Cooper, how did you get through it?"

"To be honest I haven't a clue," Low Light admitted. "I was soon able to train myself to suppress it using meditation. And Lifeline and Bree helped a lot. They were there to keep me sane through it all. But even then they couldn't completely stop the nightmares."

"I had no idea things were that bad for you," Cover Girl said.

"It got so bad…" Low Light hesitated. "There were times I had to take some drastic measures."

"Drugs?" Cover Girl asked.

"Worse…" Low Light was embarrassed. "I had to…Go to Lifeline and Bree. I literally had to sleep in their bed and have them hold me like some little kid. It wasn't sexual. It was…safe."

"Now you sound like an adult version of Michael Jackson," Cover Girl blinked. Low Light gave her a look. "Sorry. Just popped out of my mouth."

"You think I like admitting it?" Low Light snapped. "It's humiliating."

"Low Light you were brutally tortured and experimented upon," Cover Girl said. "That would shake anybody to say the least. I could understand why you needed to be…held like that."

"It's stupid I know," Low Light groaned. "It only happened a couple of times but…God it felt so good and safe. It was like being with my parents who actually loved me, not the ones who turned me into a basket case. I guess I was just wanting the love my parents never gave me and all that crap."

"I see you've been talking to Psyche-Out again," Cover Girl gave him an amused look. "How about this? If you want…I could stay with you here. Tonight."

"You mean here?" Low Light blinked. "In the same bed?"

"Well yeah…" Cover Girl said.

"Are you nuts?" Low Light looked at her. "You know how these kids will react when they find out we spent the night together! And I mean **when** not **if**."

"Well they've been trying to set us up together anyway," Cover Girl waved. "At least maybe they'll forget about us and focus on another couple."

"Fat chance," Low Light muttered as he climbed into bed with her. "But at this point I'm willing to try anything."

"Come on," Cover Girl placed her head on his chest. "Is that better?"

"I take it that's a rhetorical question?" Low Light smirked. He turned serious. "Look um…Just so you know…I don't intend to…take advantage of your or anything like that."

"Funny I was going to say the same to you," Cover Girl smirked.

"God I feel like a freaking wuss…" Low Light winced.

"You're **not** a wuss, Cooper," Cover Girl told him. "Next to Snake Eyes you're the toughest man I know."

"Gee that makes me feel a **lot** better," Low Light groaned.

"The man had his face blown off and he's a freaking ninja," Cover Girl told him. "Kind of hard to top that!"

"You're right," Low Light sighed. "I think that's the exhaustion catching up with me."

"Just go to sleep," Cover Girl told him.

"I'll try…" Low Light closed his eyes. "Second huh? That's pretty good."

"That's damn good if the guy in first is…"

"Yeah…I get it. I get it. Thanks."

"Don't mention it. You'd do the same for me. Not one word Cooper. Not one smart remark."

"Are you kidding? Then I'd **really **end up like Snake Eyes."

"Only it wouldn't be your face that would be torn off."

"Yikes."

"Yeah, yikes…So don't mess with me."

"Well this really calms me down…" Low Light said. "If I didn't have nightmares before…"

"Cooper, just shut up and go to sleep."

"Okay, fine. I just hope the kids don't find out about this…"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Well it's about time you sly dog," Pietro grinned. The breakfast table was unusually full of Misfits and their handlers the following morning.

"Okay so who won the betting pool?" Althea asked.

"They didn't have sex so it doesn't count," Lina said.

"Darn it," Fred snapped his fingers. "She's right. And I was so close too!"

"Yes but I still have a few weeks to go…" Roadblock observed. "You never know."

"No! They should hold off!" Lance said. "At least until August…"

"I hate you all right now…" Cover Girl was hiding her face in her hands with her elbows on the table.

"It's like living with the freaking CIA…" Low Light groaned. "No, these kids are **better** than they are!"

"But you didn't do anything bad," Fred told them. "Back in the Brotherhood we did it…a lot. Sleep together I mean."

"What the hell does that supposed to mean?" Low Light snapped. "On second thought I think I really don't want to know the answer."

"Why the hell **didn't **you have sex with her?" Shipwreck asked.

"I was a little tired okay?" Low Light snapped.

"Geeze Low Light I know you're a tough guy but don't you think you're taking this virgin stuff just a little too…" Shipwreck began to say. Then he realized what he just said. "Whoops…"

"YOU'RE A **WHAT?"** All the Misfit guys shouted.

"AHA!" Pietro stood up. "SEE! SEE! YOU ALL CAN'T RAG ME ABOUT BEING A VIRGIN NOW! NOT WHEN **HE'S **THE WORLD'S OLDEST VIRGIN!"

"He is not!" Shipwreck said. "I'm sure there's a few priests and nuns out there…"

"SHIPWRECK I AM GOING TO **KILL** YOU!" Low Light screamed as he started to chase him around the room.

"Okay people place your bets," Lance called out and the Misfits started to make them. Low Light chased Shipwreck out of the room.

Mystique waddled into the room and looked at the insanity. "Is it always this much **fun** around here?" She asked sarcastically.

"Nah, sometimes it gets kinda weird," Arcade told her.

"I find it quite amusing," Larry said casually as he wheeled in.

"All right who's **this **one?" Mystique blinked.

"Oh that's right you two haven't met," Pietro said. "This is Foresight. Partial telepath and precog. Foresight, meet Mommy Mystique."

"Foresight? I've heard that name before…" Mystique blinked. "Wait a minute…What's your real name?"

"Could you hold her down please?" Larry asked Roadblock.

"Yeah it don't take a precog to see what she's gonna do…" Roadblock got up and prepared to restrain her.

"What? Who is he?" Mystique snapped.

"Larry Trask," Todd said. Everyone looked at him. "What? She was gonna find out anyway?"

"TRASK?" Mystique was held back by Roadblock. "YOU MEAN HE'S…"

"The Son of the Sentinel Maker yeah," Roadblock sighed. "It's a long story…"

"He's been staying mostly in the Joe medical ward for his rehab," Lance said. "His old man did a number on him."

"I still can't believe that you have one of your enemies' sons stay here!" Mystique shouted.

"We let **you **stay here," Todd glared at her. "And you've done worse."

"Oh yeah…" Mystique said. "I forgot. Must be either the pregnancy or living here. It's only been two days and I'm already losing my mind."

"Well you lost pretty much everything else a long time ago," Pietro quipped. "Like your figure."

"Your morality…" Althea added.

"Any sense of decency…" Roadblock said.

"See even **that** I can see," Angelica said.

"People like you should live in a tree," Daria said.

"And get chased by an angry bee…" Quinn said.

"I wish something would cause her to flee," Brittany said.

"Or something would skin your knee…" Spyder said. "Okay I'm not good at rhyming!"

"Well you just need to work on your timing," Roadblock said.

"At least you're not miming," Xi said.

"ENOUGH WITH THE RHYMING!" Mystique screamed. "Now you've got **me** doing it!"

"Well, you don't have to have a fit," Fred said.

"Yeah you could just quit," Arcade said.

"AAAHHHHHGGGGHHH!" Mystique got up and left the room. She was still screaming as she went to her room.

"I think she's getting used to us," Todd said.

"Well besides torturing Mystique and Shipwreck getting the life throttled out of him," Cover Girl casually looked out the window to see Low Light pummeling Shipwreck on the lawn. "I think we should really do something nice today."

"Like what?" Todd asked.

"Well I had some words with General Hawk and he said we could give the X-Men a break today from the media circus," Roadblock said.

"NOT THE BATS AGAIN! WHO PUT THE BATS IN MY CLOSET?" Mystique screamed.

"And maybe Mystique too…" Roadblock winced.

"Yeah we don't wanna wear her out too fast," Althea said.

"I want this torture to really last," Todd said.

"Well the time for talking is past," Roadblock agreed. Then winced. "Maybe we should cool it with the rhyme for a time. I mean…"

"We know what you mean Roadblock…" Cover Girl told him. "Come on let's give Xavier a call."

"This is gonna be a ball!" Xi said. Everyone looked at him. "What?"

"Guys…" Lance blinked. "I think we have a problem."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"I'm glad we did this," Jean sighed as she took in a deep breath. The mutants were all relaxing on a tropical island near the Bahamas. Thanks to the Mass Device most of the X-Men and Misfits were able to escape the eyes of the press. It was a private resort on a private island. The Joes and mutants had full run of the place. Cover Girl, Ororo, Jean and Mrs. Pryde were relaxing on beach chairs. "I think this is just what we all needed. Even if it is only for a few days."

"Getting the students away from the press is a good idea," Ororo said.

"Even better," Cover Girl said. "I just got word that they found another skeleton in Glory's closet and the reporters covering her story took off to cover that."

"Really?" Jean asked. "What did they find?"

"Her housekeeper," Cover Girl said. "And she was also an illegal alien."

"I guess that does take some of the heat off," Mrs. Pryde sighed. "But that still doesn't absolve all the problems we brought to your door."

"Oh don't worry about it," Cover Girl sighed. "Sooner or later the scandal will blow over. The station has decided not to fire Jesse D and for some reason his hardcore fans love him even more. Kind of like what happened with Ashton Kutcher when he hooked up with Demi More. Besides, I also heard that Whattely Austin and her husband Bubba Blue just got into a smackdown with Lo-J and whomever she's married to this week. By the time we get back, you guys will be old news."

"Where do you get your inside information?" Jean asked.

"Being a former model I have my sources," Cover Girl grinned.

"Well I think it's going to take longer than that for people to forget about Jesse and me," Mrs. Pryde sighed. "Poor Kitty being in the middle of all this…"

"Kitty is a much stronger individual than she appears to be," Ororo told her.

"HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU KURT NOT TO SPLASH ME?" Kitty roared. "PREPARE TO DIE!"

"And she knows how to manage stress…" Cover Girl mocked.

"Seems like everyone is here relaxing," Mrs. Pryde overlooked the beach. Everyone was in beach clothes, even Xavier. They were surfing, swimming, making sandcastles or engaging in other activities.

"Well we definitely weren't bringing Mystique," Cover Girl said. "So we left her behind with Shipwreck, The Blind Master, Roadblock, the babies, a Barney tape and several bongos."

"I almost feel sorry for her," Ororo chuckled. "Almost."

"Even Larry's relaxing," Cover Girl pointed to Larry resting on a beach chair. His wheelchair was nearby. "We thought it would do him some good to get out of the med. bay for a while."

Larry was resting, wearing shorts and an open blue shirt along with his helmet that prevented his newly formed telepathic powers from going out of control. He seemed to enjoy doing nothing when suddenly a brightly colored beach ball bounced onto his stomach. "Oof!"

"Whoops!" Kitty said as she and Lance ran up in their bathing suits to him. "Sorry about that."

"No problem, it didn't hurt that much," Larry pointed to his helmet. "Got this on to protect my head."

"Wait I thought you needed a machine to…" Kitty began.

"It's in the helmet," Larry told her.

"Trinity helped the medics cook that gizmo up," Lance explained. "So now he can move around."

"In a manner of speaking," Larry said. "It's going to take a while before my legs are able to move properly again."

"But why…?" Kitty then remembered. "Oh…I forgot."

"Well most people say the Misfits are brain damaged," Larry grinned. "I just happen to be proof of that."

"And I thought I had it rough when Magneto shot me up with those experimental drugs," Lance shook his head.

"Lance, I prefer **this **to visions of an insane coyote that sounds like Pietro," Larry told him.

"Sometimes I would too…" Lance groaned. "You want me to get you anything?"

"That's okay I…" Larry stopped and gasped. He started to shake for a moment then stopped.

"Larry? Larry what's wrong?" Kitty shook his shoulder.

"We're going to be attacked!" Larry shouted.

"Who? Where?" Lance looked around. The sky was clear. "I don't see anything!"

"I had a premonition…" Larry told him. "Get the others ready! Fire in the sky! They're coming!"

"Who's coming? There's nothing…" Lance's eyes widened when he saw several black and red dots come into view. "Out there…?"

A loud screech could be heard. "What the…?" Scott looked up. He barely dodged a fireball attack.

Several dozen large demon like creatures with huge wings, fire heads and flaming tails attacked. "Everybody! Regroup!" Scott ordered as the teams struggled to hold together. Jesse D used his force field to protect the Prydes, Donald, Doug, Larry and the other weaker mutants against the attack. Althea and Ororo used their water abilities well against the creatures while the other mutants fought back.

"What **are** these things?" Bobby shouted as he used his ice powers to freeze one demon, only to have it break through.

"I've seen these before…" Amara shouted. "They're demons!"

"These aren't the same demons from Limbo," Peter armored up and knocked a few back.

"No, I recognize these from pictures back home…" Amara said. To her horror the fire she created had no effect on the monsters. "They're…AIIEEE!" Suddenly two of the monsters grabbed her from behind and lifted her into the air.

"They got Amara!" Tabitha shouted. "Let her go Ugly!" She tossed her time bombs at them but missed.

Suddenly the monsters stopped attacking and lifted off into the air. "They're getting away!" Hank shouted. "As if they got what they came for!"

"Amara!" Jean shouted trying to use her telekinesis to hold the demons back. "Use your powers!"

Amara had fired up and was struggling. "I am! But it's not working!"

"Of course! These things are like fire too!" Kitty shouted.

The demons screamed and managed to break free of Jean's grip. Before anyone could stop them, they flew off into the sky rapidly. "AMARA!" Roberto took to the sky using his powers.

"Hang on Girl! We're coming!" Sam shouted using his power to take to the air. Both boys flew after them.

"NO!" Hank shouted. "Stay back!"

The boys flew after the creatures. "There go the varmints!" Sam shouted. "Whoa!" He dodged a fireball.

"They're fast!" Roberto shouted. "But we're faster!" He used his powers to shoot at the creatures but when his rays hit, it didn't affect them. "It's not working!"

"Maybe I can knock her loose!" Sam tried to catch up. However one of the demons turned around and attacked him head on, knocking Sam out of the sky and straight into the ocean.

"SAM!" Roberto shouted. Before he knew it, he was also knocked down and into the ocean. Soon both boys were left floundering in the water.

"Smooth move," Sam gasped as he struggled to stay afloat.

"Yeah, well your plan didn't work either," Roberto snapped. "I don't know about you but I'm spent." Then some clouds covered the sun. "Aw man…"

"Don't we ever get a break?" Sam grumbled. "What is that noise?"

A loud buzzing of a motor could be heard. To the boys surprise was a large rescue raft with a huge motor on the back. And three rescuers inside. "Need a lift?" Trinity chirped. They brought the boys back to the island.

"They got away…" Sam grumbled as they returned to the others.

"My rays totally didn't do anything to 'em," Roberto looked at his hands.

"Well they are fire demons," Tabitha said.

"And your power does come from the sun," Rahne said. "I mean, sun, fire…Heat wouldn't affect them."

"Why were they after Amara?" Jean asked.

"I don't know," Althea said. "But we're gonna find out! Vacation's over guys! Let's head back to the our base and prepare to track them down!"

"We need to get the portable Cerebro as well," Xavier said. "I have a feeling it may come in handy."

"The portable Cerebro?" Pietro asked.

"The one that's usually in the blackbird," Jean. "Remember? I used it to help me fight the Professor when he was being mind controlled by Apocalypse?"

"Good idea," Cover Girl said. "Something tells me we're gonna need it!"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Amara struggled against the chains that held her against the cave wall. The creatures had brought her to a deserted island and chained her up. "Uggh! When I get out of here…" She converted to her Magma form, but it didn't do anything.

"Don't bother," A voice sneered from the darkness. "Those chains were forged especially to contain Fire Demons. Your powers are useless against them."

"Who are you? What do you want with me?" Amara shouted.

"Revenge mostly. Hello little princess," The Black Queen materialized in front of her wearing a black leather outfit. "I've been waiting a long time to meet you."

**Next: What does Selene want with Amara? And who will save her? You won't believe it! **


	28. The Attack of the Black Queen

**The Attack of the Black Queen**

Amara couldn't prevent her knees from knocking. "Selene…"

"That's right Princess," Selene hissed as she slunk closer to her prey. "Did you really think your family wouldn't escape my wrath? Especially since that fool of a father allowed you to leave Nova Roma?"

"My father is a great and powerful leader!" Amara shouted hotly. "Like my grandmother! She defeated you before!"

"Well, she's not here now is she Princess? Selene grinned evilly as she traced one of her fingernails on her cheek. "And you're completely at my mercy."

"My friends will find me! And they'll defeat you witch!" Amara defied her.

"I doubt it. The only reason I don't tear the flesh from your bones **right now** is because it would be much more satisfying to do it in front of your grandmother," Selene hissed. "But I think I can amuse myself in other ways…"

"That's enough Selene," A familiar voice barked behind her.

"Why am I not surprised?" Selene sighed in a tired voice. Evan and the Hellions were behind her. "I should have known the White Queen would have sent her brats in to interfere."

"Evan?" Amara blinked.

"Look Selene, this is nothing personal," Evan sighed. "But we have our orders from Frost and Shaw. Just give us Magma and…"

"Fool! You have no idea what sort of forces the Hellfire Club will unleash!" Selene snapped. "I'm trying to save your pathetic lives!"

"The only pathetic one I see is you!" Warpath snarled.

"Oh you are going to pay for that boy!" Selene waved her arm. Several Fire Demons appeared and attacked.

"Remember your training!" Evan shouted as he took several spherical objects from his belt. He tossed them at the Fire Demons. They exploded and the demons were covered in steam, then foam, and then ice. More demons appeared and the Hellions dispatched them in similar fashion.

"What? How did you...?" Selene shouted.

"These little do hickeys the Beta team cooked up make your fire demons as effective as wet matchsticks!" Beef shouted.

"Did you really think we wouldn't be prepared after all the data we have on you?" Evan asked her.

"That was only the warm up," Selene told him. "This is the **real **show!" Immediately shots of dark energy shot out and crackled from her hands. It crackled all around the Hellions.

"BARRIER CARD!" Tarot shouted, creating a huge barrier around the Hellions, protecting them from the dark magic. The barrier disappeared when the dark magic seemed to fizzle.

"Impressive Tarot," Selene hissed. She prepared another blast. "Too bad it only works once!"

**_ENOUGH! _**

A telepathic assault startled Selene. The energy ball fizzled in her hands. "You!" She sneered at the figure emerging from the shadows.

"Did you really think I would send my Hellions in to fight you alone?" Emma growled. "They were my warm up!"

"And did you really think that they'd be much of a challenge to me?" Selene shouted as she cast some kind of ray from her fingers.

Emma changed into diamond form so that the ray bounced harmlessly off her. "Don't be a fool Selene," Emma said. "What do you hope to accomplish by going directly against the Inner Circle like this? I thought you were smarter than that."

"Desperate times call for desperate measures," Selene told her. "You shall never retrieve the M'Krran Crystal if I can help it!"

"Why? According to legend it is the key to absolute power! Power that rightfully belongs in the hands of the Hellfire Club!" Emma asked.

"I think she just wants all the power for herself," Monet snorted.

"Idiots! You don't know how dangerous that thing really is! It's nothing less than a key to the destruction of the entire planet! Maybe even our solar system! Even **I **don't wish that!" Selene shouted.

"All those years we've been searching…You knew all along where it was didn't you?" Emma's eyes narrowed as she reverted to her normal form.

"Who do you think hid it in that volcano centuries ago?" Selene told her.

"I didn't want it to come to this," Emma sighed. "But you give me no choice." Then she gave out a full telepathic assault on Selene.

"Really Emma? Do you really think your pathetic powers can harm me?" Selene cackled. "Your telepathic assault is useless on me!"

"Then why are you sweating?" Emma snarled. "Selene…This is your final warning! If you resist me further…You will be turning your back on your oath to the Hellfire Club! You'll be thrown out! You will no longer be the Black Queen! Surely you can put your revenge on hold long enough for us to accomplish our goal! Is your thirst for vengeance blinding you?"

"No…" Selene hissed. "It's merely a perk!" She sent another lightning bolt from her fingers. Emma dodged it. "Fine! I wanted to do this properly, but since that's not possible I'll kill her **right now!"**

"No you **won't!"** Emma continued her assault even more. "Hellions! Protect Magma and secure her! She's too valuable to our cause!"

"Oh no you don't!" Selene shot out another ray, but this one was directed at Amara.

In an instant before anyone could react Kurt teleported in with Jean. They appeared before Amara. Jean barely managed to create a shield just in time. The Misfits and X-Men then barged into the cave. "Just what I need! **More **pests!" Selene hissed. She created another barrage of dark magic.

"Hellions! Attack!" Emma shouted. The Hellions used their powers on Selene but she seemed to deflect most of them easily. Her dark magic easily blasted at her attackers, scattering them.

"These guys are on **our **side?" Fred asked.

"Just shut up and help us defeat the witch!" Monet snapped. "She wants Amara dead!"

"Whatever you do, don't let her touch you!" Evan shouted.

"No problem!" Pietro zoomed around and created a mini tornado around Selene. However she managed to counter the attack and shot a force blast sending Pietro into the cave wall! "Whoa!"

"Okay, time for me to bring down the house!" Lance shot out a tremor.

"Are you nuts?" Beef shouted as the cave shuddered. "You'll cause a cave in!"

Selene blindly shot out a blast that threw Lance across the cave. "Time to recharge!" She hovered over him preparing to do something vile. Selene stopped and stared at Lance. "No…It can't be…" She gasped.

That moment of distraction was all Evan needed. He shot his spike out and it hit her shoulder. "AIEEEE!" Selene screamed.

**_Monet! Celandine! NOW! _**Emma coordinated a telepathic assault that sent Selene screaming to her knees.

"Even you can't fight off three telepaths at once!" Evan shouted.

"Make it four!" Jean joined in the assault. Even with all her power, Selene could not fight this many enemies while wounded and distracted.

"This isn't over!" Selene hissed clutching her shoulder as she seemed to dissipate into a black shadow and disappeared.

"Is it over?" Rahne asked.

"I think so…" Lance let out a breath.

"Why did she looked so freaked when she saw you?" Evan asked Lance.

"I haven't a clue," Lance shrugged.

"Well in that case…HELLIONS! ATTACK!" Evan shouted. Immediately the Hellions started to attack the X-Men and Misfits.

"You backstabbing…" Rogue snarled as she charged ahead. She punched Warpath clear across the cave.

Roulette used her powers to create black disks, which bounced around the cave walls and hit the mutants. "Watch out!" Scott shouted as his powers accidentally hit a huge section of the cave ceiling. A rather medium pile of rubble rained down on them.

"SMOKE CARD!" Tarot stuck out a card and it changed to a strange cloud. Soon none of the X-Men or Misfits could see. Monet and Emma used a psychic attack to temporary stun them. When the smoke finally cleared the Hellions had gone.

And so had Amara.

"Damn it!" Roberto shouted. "They got away!"

"Not all of 'em," Sam pointed to a dazed Warpath. "Looks like your buddies left you behind."

A sound of a jet could be heard outside. Kurt teleported away then back. "They took off! I couldn't teleport fast enough to follow them!"

"Maybe we can," Althea started to fiddle with the buttons to the teleportation watches. "What the…?"

"Mine's not working either," Pietro fiddled with his.

"Great, our teleportation watches are fizzled out!" Wanda groaned. "Must have happened when Roulette hit us with one of those black disks!"

"No biggie," Arcade said. "Kitty and I can have them up and running in under two hours. Trinity showed me how they work."

"So we're stuck here?" Lance folded his arms. "Great! Just great!"

"I tell you one thing," Sam grumbled. "I am seriously getting sick of the Hellfire Club trying to make our lives miserable!"

"Well from where I'm sitting they're doing a pretty good job of it," Rahne told him. "They got Amara! Again!"

"Okay who the hell was the lady in black? And what's going on?" Lance looked at Warpath.

"Her name is Selene, the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club," Warpath grunted.

"Oh this just keeps getting better," Sam groaned. "Now we have a White **and** Black Queen to deal with!"

"If The Black Queen and the Hellions are on the same side, why were they fighting?" Tabitha asked.

"Simple stupid," Warpath growled. "Selene was going against orders. The Hellfire Club wanted Magma alive for a reason."

"What reason?" Logan roared as he shot his claws out at him. "You'd better give us some answers, Bub!"

"Or what? You'll kill me like you killed my brother?" Warpath snarled.

"We didn't kill Thunderbird," Logan growled. "Proteus did that."

"Funny, I thought you said he died when the Tin Man over there slammed a car on top of him," Warpath said sarcastically. Peter looked sad at that comment.

"It wasn't his fault!" Kitty shouted. "Proteus had taken over your brother's body and was going to kill us and an entire town full of people! There was no other way!"

"Yeah right," Warpath growled. "Like I'll believe anything **you **say. If you're going to kill me, you might as well do it. I'm not going to tell you anything. Apaches don't fear death. And you can forget about reading my mind. Ms. Frost prepared us all for that."

"He's right," Jean sighed. "There are mind blocks. They're just as strong as the Professor's."

"Well Miss High and Mighty didn't prepare you for **everything!**" Rogue said as she removed her glove and tapped Warpath on the face. Warpath passed out.

"Does he really think the X-Men are responsible for Thunderbird's death?" Angelica asked. "That's crazy."

"Yeah…He's real broken up about his brother," Rogue sighed. "Frost really played on his grief and anger to get him to join up."

"Yeah well as sad as that is, those creeps have Amara," Roberto snapped. "So where is she and what do they want with her?"

"You're not gonna believe this…" Rogue told him.

**Next: The situation really gets hot and explosive! **


	29. A Blast of Hellfire

**A Blast of Hellfire**

"I still say we shouldn't have left Warpath behind," Evan growled as the Hellions' hover jet landed near a huge volcano in Italy.

"The X-Men won't kill him, you said so yourself," Yvonne told him.

"Yeah, but they still could get information," Monet pointed out.

"No way! Frost's mental blocks can't be broken!" Bevatron snorted.

"One word moron," Evan glared at him. "Rogue!"

"Oh yeah," Bevatron's face fell. "I forgot about her."

"Spyke is right," Emma said. "And with the Misfit's infernal Mass Transportation Device or whatever the hell it's called, it won't be long until they get here. Come on." They got out and made their way to the top of the volcano.

"How did they find her in the first place?" Beef asked. "Selene anyway?"

"The same way we found her, through telepathy," Frost explained. "Selene was so sure that she could beat whoever found her she was careless and didn't even bother creating any type of shields to hide her presence. She always was too arrogant for her own good."

"She's not hurt is she?" Evan pointed to Amara who was staring vacantly into space as they walked.

"She's fine," Emma said. "I just used my powers to make her more…Compliant."

"I think Spyke still cares about his little X-Friends," Monet mocked.

"What I **care** about is how she'll complete the mission!" Evan snapped. "Besides, she may be an X-Man, but she's still a mutant like us."

"Spyke does have a valid point," Emma told her team. "Mutants should try not to kill each other even if they are enemies. There are enough humans willing to kill us."

"It's about time you got here," Pierce was waiting for her with a small group of Hellfire soldiers at the top of the volcano. "What took you so long?"

"**You** try fighting off the Black Queen, the X-Men and the Misfits at the same time!" Evan snapped.

"Fighting isn't exactly Pierce's strong suit," Emma told Evan. "So don't expect him to understand."

"I've told you more than once about mocking me woman!" Pierce growled. "My cybernetics can go up against your powers any day of the week! Even more since I implanted a device to shield me against telepathy!"

"Oh I'm **so** scared," Emma mocked.

"You will be," Pierce growled.

"Yes well as much as I'd love to continue this dialogue of witty banter that has been done a thousand times before," Emma sighed impatiently. "We have a job to do and we should get started before the X-Men arrive. Or the Black Queen if she dares to show her face after the trouncing Celandine, Monetand I gave her."

"You beat Selene?" Pierce's eyes widened.

"Isn't that what she said, Fool?" Beef grunted.

"Not to mention getting our little helper here from under the noses of our enemies. But that's something I'll tell you about later. Magma…" Emma transmitted her orders to Amara telepathically. "You know what I want. Fetch."

Amara instantly transformed into her fire form and made a free fall dive into the volcano. She disappeared below the molten lava. "This better work Frost," Pierce growled.

"It will," Emma said. "Stop whining." They waited for a few minutes.

"I wish she'd hurry up," Pierce folded his arms.

"She's looking in a volcano several miles wide and several thousand miles deep!" Evan snapped. "Cut her a little slack will ya?"

"She's found it," Emma announced. "See Pierce? Nothing to worry about. Now all you have to do is bring it back to the Hellfire Club. You **can** handle that can't you?" Pierce shot her a dark look.

Amara rose to the surface riding a column of lava. She carried a large red crystal in her hands. "Good girl," Emma said. "Now…"

An energy bomb being tossed her way cut her off. "Scatter!" She shouted. The Hellions dived to avoid being blown up only to see the X-Men and Misfits before them. This time they had brought Xavier and Warpath who was being held by Fred.

"You better let my best bud go Icy," Tabitha growled. "Unless you wanna take a warm bath in lava!"

"We got Warpath here," Fred called out. "So how about a little trade?"

"We really don't need Amara anymore do we?" Evan asked Emma.

"For now, no…" Emma said.

"Forget it!" Warpath shouted. "Just shut up and shoot 'em down!"

"Fine!" Pierce whipped out his weapon and shot at him. Fortunately Fred was able to let go in time and the bullet hit him instead. Of course, since he was invulnerable it really didn't do much.

"You nearly hit Warpath you idiot!" Evan growled.

"Uh oh…" Pierce blinked.

"Yeah, uh oh…" Rogue growled as she and the others attacked. She grabbed hold of Pierce's arm. Both struggled. Even though Pierce had enhanced strength it was useless against Rogue. "What the…?" Rogue was surprised when his robotic arm broke off.

"I'm out of here!" Pierce ran away clutching his damaged arm.

"And once again Pierce I get to take care of something which you can't handle," Frost remarked to herself. "Magma…"

Amara handed the cooled crystal to Emma, then created a huge flow of lava to attack the X-Men and Misfits. "Well isn't **this **special?" Pietro snapped as he outran the lava.

"Storm! Iceman! Use your powers to try and stop the lava!" Xavier shouted. "I'll try to break Magma's mind free!"

"Oh you can try…" Emma growled. "But it won't be that easy."

"I won't allow you to go after my students anymore!" Xavier sent a telepathic assault. Emma blocked it. Soon the mutants were in a fierce fight. Warpath had made his way back to the Hellions and was fighting fiercely. But not as fiercely as Xavier and Emma. _Give it up Frost, you cannot win against my mind…_

_Maybe she can't…_Yvonne sent out an attack of her own. _But I can._

_You're formidable young lady…_ Xavier switched his focus to her and entered a psychic battle with Celandine. _But your skills do not match mine!_

_I don't need your skills to defeat you old man! I have an extra trick or two up my sleeves that more than makes up for my inexperience! _Yvonne laughed.

Suddenly Xavier felt very sick and woozy. "What…What have you…?"

Jean sensed Xavier was in pain. "Professor!" She rushed to his side.

"My dear Celandine is a toxic telepath, as you have already figured out," Emma grinned. "However there is a way for a skilled telepath to stop the damage before it's too late. I think I'll let you figure it out on your own…if you can!"

Meanwhile Amara was using her powers to make the volcano tremble violently. "Uh guys," Kitty gulped. "I think we have bigger problems! The volcano is totally gonna blow!"

"Not if I can help it!" Jean snapped. "Psylocke!"

"Yeah I'll get her," Betsy created a psychic knife and charged at Yvonne. "Keep your shields up until I take her out! Whatever she did to the Professor it has something to do with her telepathy!"

"You can't…AAGGGHH!" Yvonne wasn't fast enough to dodge the knife. "That hurts!" She fell to her knees.

"NOW!" Betsy shouted.

"You can't stop me!" Emma snarled at Jean. Suddenly she was thrown backwards by a hex bolt. "AGGGH!"

"Let her go…" Wanda ordered. The Hellions were being beaten back by the ferocity and sheer numbers of the Misfits and X-Men.

"Fine…" Emma hissed as she released Amara. She fell to the ground back to her normal form. "Hellions! Retreat!"

"But what about…?" Evan asked as he shot spikes out to cover for her.

"Leave her!" Frost ordered. "We have what we came for!"

The Hellions and the Hellfire Club soldiers retreated with the crystal. "They're getting away!" Tabitha shouted.

"Let 'em go," Logan as more smoke spewed out of the volcano. "We've got bigger problems! A whole volcano full of 'em!"

"Amara and the Professor are out cold!" Rogue said. "Maybe I could use Amara's powers to stop the volcano?"

"There's no time!" Scott said as he grabbed Xavier and picked him up. "Lava's already coming out!"

"If I don't try that village down there is gonna be fried!" Rogue took a glove off and tapped Amara, draining some of her power. She transformed into a fiery version of herself and soon dived into the volcano.

"ROGUE!" Remy screamed as a blast of lava shot out from the volcano.

The volcano rumbled violently and a shower of lava and smoke spewed out. "Take cover!" Logan roared.

Rogue flew out of the volcano and powered down. "I…I couldn't stop all of it…" Rogue panted. "Not enough power…"

"If it's power you want…" Scott readied his visor. "Avalanche…"

"Got it!" Lance focused his powers to create a large wall of rock. Scott used his force beams to create a hole for the lava to seep into. Bobby used his ice powers and Ororo made it rain hard, cooling off the lava as much as they could. Althea used her powers to try and make the rainwater extend further. Wanda used her hex bolts and Fred used his strength to throw boulders.

"That's not bad but it's not good enough!" Logan shouted as the volcano spewed more smoke. "We gotta go now before the smoke fries our lungs!"

The X-Men and Misfits teleported off, doing what they could, hoping it had been enough.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

That evening at the Hellfire Club…

"I present the M'krran Crystal," Emma showed the crystal in it's container to Sebastian Shaw, Harry Leland and several other hooded members of the Inner Circle. The Hellions stood to the side wearing fine clothes. Evan was in his human guise.

"Excellent Emma," Shaw was pleased. "You and your Hellions have done well. Such loyalty will be rewarded."

"Speaking of loyalty…Where the hell is that devil woman Selene?" Leland asked.

"Gone into some hole like the snake she is," Emma said.

"We'll deal with her later," Shaw snorted. "Sorceress or not, she has much to answer for. But now we have new business." He took the crystal and placed it on the table. "Evan Daniels, come forward."

Evan walked towards him and knelt before Shaw. "For your loyalty and dedication to the Inner Circle," Shaw proclaimed. "I now bestow upon you the title of White Warrior Prince, Heir to the White Throne." Two attendants entered with a white royal cape and draped it on Evan's shoulders as he rose.

"WHAT?" Pierce shouted, throwing back his hood. "YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!"

"Quiet Pierce," Leland snapped.

"I alone deserve the White Throne!" Pierce snapped.

"What you deserve Pierce, I choose not to say aloud," Leland growled. "Being that we are in the presence of ladies."

"Oh believe me," Emma said. "I could say much **worse.**"

"You can't seriously say that that **sewer rat** is worthy of such a high position in the Inner Circle?" Pierce shouted.

"You would know a lot about being a rat. I'm not the one who ran away when we were under attack," Evan snapped. "Or tried to kill one of our own!"

"Remind me to beat him to a pulp for that," Warpath grumbled.

"I'm more than equipped to deal with vermin like you!" Pierce shouted.

"ENOUGH!" Shaw shouted. "Pierce! The decision is final! Daniels shall be the one groomed for the throne."

"And when the time is right he will assume the responsibilities of the White King," Emma said.

"It's because he's a lousy mutant isn't he?" Pierce snarled.

"That and he's actually competent at what he does," Leland folded his arms.

"We've already expelled Selene from her position," Shaw glared at Pierce. "And there are plenty of candidates that could take over yours if need be."

"Fine," Pierce sulked away. "But you'll regret your decision!"

"There's always **one** in every group that has to spoil every occasion isn't there?" Leland sighed as Pierce left. "We should watch him."

"We have more pressing matters than Pierce's ego," Shaw waved his hand. "The Inner Circle is dismissed." All the members left the room. All but two.

"This is a very interesting situation…" One hooded figure whispered in the shadows. He removed his hood to reveal the face of Mesmero.

"Agreed," The second whispered back. Mastermind revealed his face. He spoke telepathically. _Such conflict will work to our advantage. _

_I will work on Pierce, _Mesmero nodded. _His vanity will be most useful._

_And I will take the boy, _Mastermind agreed. _His knowledge of the X-Men and his new position will help us as well. _

_It's ironic isn't it? The Hellfire Club is convinced that you are spying on Magneto for them, while Magneto believes you are keeping tabs on the Hellfire Club for him, _Mesmero grinned.

_And you Mesmero vouched for me to the Hellfire Club while Blackjack…Or Legion or whoever the hell he is at the moment gave the idea to Magneto…None of them realize that a third party is soon going to control them all. _Mastermind grinned.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"So what's the damage?" Tabitha asked. The X-Men and Misfits were in the Institute War room.

"Very little surprisingly," Scott told them. "Thanks to us most of the lava was stopped before it reached the town. A few minor fires were started but no homes were destroyed."

"We're lucky we got out of there before the Italian authorities arrived," Logan grunted.

"Yes, we were extremely fortunate today," Xavier wheeled in with Amara and Jean following.

"Professor! You're okay!" Kitty chirped.

"I'm better now," Xavier told the group. "Although I still have a slight headache."

"What did she do to you?" Jean asked. "What's a toxic telepath?"

"Apparently Celandine's telepathy has some serious side effects," Xavier sighed. "They can cause a violent chemical reaction in the brain without proper safeguards. It took all my mental abilities to do so but I was able to counteract the effects."

"In other words she can literally kill a person just by thinking about it?" Kurt asked.

"Technically many telepaths are capable of that, but in Celandine's case the effects are deadly whether she wishes them to be or not," Xavier told him. "Unless of course precautions are made with certain type of sheilding."

"Well isn't that special?" Pietro mocked. "Great, as if those guys didn't give us enough trouble!"

"Are you okay Amara?" Roberto asked.

"I…I think so…" Amara said. "As well as I can expect running into one of my childhood demons."

"What do you mean?" Jean asked her.

"Selene was a powerful sorceress who helped found Nova Roma during the time of the Roman Empire," Amara told them. "According to legend she kept herself young by stealing away the life force of living beings, mostly people. She overthrew the government and ruled Nova Roma for centuries with an iron fist."

"You serious?" Scott asked.

Amara nodded. "Eventually my grandmother overthrew her and expelled her from our homeland with a powerful spell. But her image still haunts and frightens my people to this day. Many people believe she was a demon."

"More likely another mutant from ancient times," Xavier frowned.

"So Apocalypse wasn't the only one from back then huh?" Tabitha asked. "Geeze it makes you wonder how many of us there were in those days. So what happened to you?"

"I don't remember anything. One minute the Hellions were fighting Selene and the next thing I knew I'm here. What happened?" Amara asked.

"You went pearl diving in a volcano," Pietro told her.

"What?" Amara blinked.

"The Hellions wanted to use your mutant powers to recover some kind of crystal hidden in a volcano in Italy," Xavier explained. "Unfortunately they succeeded."

"Professor what could they possibly want with that crystal?" Kurt asked.

"Maybe the Ice Queen wanted to make some new earrings?" Pietro joked.

"Something tells me it's a bit more than that," Wanda said. "Maybe they were gonna sell it or something?"

"With all the finances and resources the Hellfire Club has I doubt they're hurting for cash," Logan grunted. "But whatever they want it for…I got a feeling it's gonna cause us a lot of trouble."

"I fear you're right Logan," Xavier sighed. "Whatever the reason, I only hope we can handle it."


	30. The Gods Really Are Crazy

**The Gods Really Are Crazy**

"So Amara's feeling okay huh?" Arcade asked the next day back at Misfit Manor.

"Yeah, considering she was kidnapped by that witch Selene and brainwashed by the other witch Frost!" Wanda said.

"Speaking of witches," Todd thought. "Where's Mystique?"

"Getting a combination pre natal checkup and therapy session in the Pit Infirmary," Althea told him. "This morning my sisters decided to show Mystique one of their scrapbooks."

"I take it it's not the one of their favorite naked guys?" Wanda asked casually.

"Nope," Althea shook her head. "It's the one chronicling all the cases of Spontaneous Combustion and unexplained reasons why certain body parts explode."

"So she's gonna be in there all day huh?" Lance asked.

"Pretty much yeah," Althea nodded.

"She's really starting to crack isn't she?" Fred grinned.

"Oh yeah," Todd grinned. "And this is just the mild stuff. I can't wait until she's ready for target practice!"

"Yeah I admit I'm looking forward to that too," Pietro grinned. "I've already picked out my paintball colors."

"One thing I'm **not** looking forward to is today's training," Lance groaned.

"I'm afraid training for you is cancelled today," Roadblock walked in with Duke and General Hawk. "Something new has come our way."

"Man don't we ever get a…?" Pietro began to complain when a flash interrupted him. "Break?"

Standing before them were three more figures. One was a tall blonde woman in full Norse regalia. Another was a young man with long blond hair, wearing a toga and grape leaves. But the third was the most striking. A man with the face of a black dog in Egyptian costume with a staff. "**These** are the ones that will assist us?" He spoke in a booming voice.

"Oh man the hallucinations are getting worse," Lance gulped.

"Relax Lance you're not hallucinating," Duke sighed. "Anubis, Egyptian God of the Dead, meet the Misfits. Misfits, Anubis God of the Dead."

"Anubis?" Wanda blinked. "As in the **real **Anubis?"

"Yes," Hawk sighed.

"You mean the guy who was supposed to take people across some river to the land of the dead Anubis?" Angelica's jaw dropped.

"Yes," Hawk said.

"There really is a god called Anubis?" Lina gasped. "He really exists?"

"Apparently," Anubis folded his arms.

Lance looked at Hawk. "I knew you Joes knew some weird people but this is nuts!"

"Kind of a shock for us too when we first met," Duke sighed.

"But how…?" Pietro looked back and forth.

"Years ago back in the 80's, Cobra was trying to loot treasure from this pyramid," Duke explained. "I and a team of Joes went to stop them. Long story short, we ran into Egyptian God territory and were nearly stuck there." **(From the classic GI Joe episode: The Gods Below) **

"But these guys aren't Egyptian," Angelica pointed to the other two. "Unless those history books I've read are completely off base."

"You perceive correctly girl. This is Dionysus, the Greek God of Wine," Anubis pointed to a longhaired youth wearing a tunic. "Sometimes known as Bacchus."

"Thanks to those crazy Romans. Just call me DB," He waved. "It's a lot easier. And this lady is Sif, Thor's wife."

"Soon to be Ex-Wife!" Sif snapped. "I can't take it anymore! I don't know why I married that idiot!"

"We have a problem," Anubis sighed. "A big one. I'm afraid Thor the Norse God of Thunder is loose in your world."

"Ah, you wanna run that by me again?" Pietro blinked.

"Long ago the gods of the world decided that mankind was better of without us interfering and willfully exiled ourselves into other dimensions," Anubis explained.

"You mean you guys couldn't take handing humans and went into retirement?" Todd asked.

"Got it in one!" DB groaned. "No matter what we tried most of those humans just took us way too seriously! I mean human sacrifices? Not really helpful to us! My sister the goddess of love once asked this prince dude named Paris to help this queen named Helen book some vacation plans to Troy for her and her husband. It got totally out of hand."

"So you all decided that mankind could screw up it's own future and decided to get out while the getting was good?" Lance asked.

"Yeah there was no way we were gonna take responsibility for **that **train wreck," DB groaned.

"So wait, did the gods create humanity or was there one all powerful deity that did that?" Xi asked. "Or was it evolution?"

"Actually…" DB began.

"Shut it, Booze Hound!" Sif elbowed him in the ribs. "You know that sort of knowledge is forbidden to give to mortals! Let them figure it out on their own!"

"So if you guys washed your hands of us, why is this guy on the loose?" Pietro asked.

"Well it seems that one of the reasons Thor leftAsgard was to use his powers to benefit mankind," Anubis said.

"And that's bad **why?**" Wanda asked.

"Because gods aren't supposed to interfere with mortal affairs," Anubis said. "It causes too much trouble."

"What kind of trouble are we talking about?" Lance asked.

"One word dude," DB said. "Atlantis. Whole continent used to be as large as Australia! I told Neptune he was making too many rivers. And then Athena had to put her two cents in. She went through this landscaping phase. Not really her thing."

"That's bad," Lance gulped.

"Well you guys are gods, can't you just go grab him yourselves?" Pietro asked.

"Yeah you have all the powers!" Todd said.

"Normally we would but…" DB sighed.

"Technically this is not the first breakout we've had," Anubis sighed. "But since most gods have as much power and authority as the town idiot we haven't had too much trouble returning them to their proper place. Thor however is another story…"

"Of all the gods in each circle, he is probably the most powerful of all of them, with the exception of Zeus and Odin and the other boss gods," DB told them. "Mostly because his power hasn't waned over the centuries like the other gods have."

"Why not?" Wanda asked.

"Besides the fact that he's the god of Thunder? He kind of breaks out every couple of hundred years to 'help' people," DB explained. "He feels it's his duty to use his gifts for good."

"MORE LIKE HE FEELS IT'S HIS DUTY TO GO PARTYING EVERY TIME MY BACK IS TURNED!" Sif screamed as she took out a sword and stared to hack the table. "JUST A FEW MOMENTS TO STRETCH HIS LEGS MY EYE! EVERY TIME I NEED HIM TO DO ONE OR TWO SIMPLE TASKS AROUND THE CASTLE HE RUNS AWAY! OH HE'LL FIGHT EVIL AND PROTECT THE WEAK! NO PROBLEM THERE! GIANT SPIDERS AND MONSTERS! HE'LL TAKE CARE OF IT, BUT DOES HE EVER CLEAN UP HIS MESS? OR TAKE OUT THE GARBAGE? OR EVEN CHANGE A FREAKING ROLL OF TOILET PAPER WITHOUT ME NAGGING HIM FOR SEVEN HOURS…AGGGHHH!"

"That's the **other** reason why he left," DB said.

"We kind of figured that," Lance sighed.

"And to make matters worse he's brought along two other gods to assist him!" Anubis groaned. "Basset, the Egyptian Goddess of Cats and Hercules."

"Wait, I thought Hercules was only a half god," Angelica said.

"Well yes, technically…" DB sighed. "It's a real long story. Let's just say he's immortal now and leave it at that."

"Does he look anything like Kevin Sorbo?" Althea asked.

"AL!" Todd snapped.

"What? I'm just asking!" Althea said. "For ID purposes."

"Actually he looks more like the dude who played Ares," DB said. Anubis and Sif glared at him. "What? I got cable. Sue me."

"So you powerful gods want us to track these other powerful gods and find out where they are?" Angelica asked.

"Actually we know where they are," Anubis said. "They're in a town called Bayville in what you would call the state of New York."

"Bayville? You mean the X-Men's hometown Bayville?" Roadblock asked. "The Bayville that gets trashed every other week?"

"Why am I not surprised?" Arcade groaned.

"Let me guess, they're starting there to fight crime and preserve truth and justice right?" Lance asked.

"No," Sif told them. "Because there's a beer drinking contest at a bar there."

"How would they know…?" Shipwreck began.

Everyone looked at DB. "Hey it's like my job to know these things," DB said defensively. "Herc asked me a question. It's not like I knew he was gonna break out or anything."

"Of course he was going to break out!" Sif snapped. "Don't you remember the time he nearly burned down Tokyo because he wanted to try some sake?"

"Okay back up!" Wanda held up her hand. "We're supposed to help you gods track down three other gods who broke out of some other weird dimension in order that they could participate in a beer drinking contest at a bar in Bayville? Does that make sense to **anyone **here?"

"Actually Basset wants to start a grass roots animal rights coalition there," DB said. "But you're right on with the guys."

"Okay who wants to call up the X-Men and give them the good news **this **time?" Althea asked.

"Might as well show up on their doorstep and surprise them," Lance shrugged as the Misfits went to get prepared. "That usually softens the blow."

"Yeah and we can see 'em freak out in person," Fred agreed. "Which is a lot more fun. You…uh…Guys wanna join us?"

"Yeah I'm up for a trip," DB nodded.

"Did I hear something about a beer contest?" Shipwreck ran in. "Can I come? Can I come?"

"You're not gonna take no for an answer are you Shipwreck?" DB sighed.

"You know him?" Lance asked.

"I know **of** him. He's become something of a legend around my circle of friends," DB sighed. "And believe me, with the job I have that's no small accomplishment."

"This information does not surprise me," Xi remarked.

"I'd have been more surprised if he **didn't** know about him," Althea agreed.

"Who are these guys?" Shipwreck asked. "New Mutants?"

"Ancient Gods," Duke explained. "They want us to track down a few other ancient gods who want to participate in a drinking contest in Bayville. They need our help to corral them and keep them from blowing the town up."

"Okay I know one of us is drunk," Shipwreck blinked. "Is it me again? Cause I don't remember having a drink this morning."

"No, but something tells me we will **all** be drunk when this is over," Hawk sighed.

"Whatever, I'm in," Shipwreck shrugged.

"Yeah, that's pretty much a given," Duke rolled his eyes.

"Is it me or are our lives getting more and more insane?" Wanda asked.

"I dunno," Arcade shrugged. "I'm getting too far gone to notice."

"This does seem like a rip off of an old 'Daria' episode," Pietro observed.

"Our whole lives seem like a rip off of a cartoon, man," Todd said.

"Training doesn't seem so bad anymore," Lance remarked.

"Neither do those therapy sessions with Psyche-Out," Wanda groaned.


	31. Another Wild Night On The Town

**Another Wild Night on the Town in Bayville**

Meanwhile back at the Institute…

"I can't believe we're stuck here while Scott and Jean get to go out!" Tabitha groaned. Several X-Men were hanging around the living room. "I still say we should have followed 'em!"

"And risk having three Danger Room sessions with Logan a day for a month?" Bobby asked. "I don't think so."

"Still would have been better than hanging around here," Tabitha muttered as she folded her arms.

"Hey, at least all the protesters are gone," Kitty told her. "Course, so are my parents and their boyfriends."

"Yeah and after yesterday I'm kind of glad for the peace and quiet," Amara said.

"Well I'm not," Tabitha said. "I'm a party girl!"

"Who'd invite **us **to a party in this town?" Kurt asked. "Except for a mutant lynching one. And one encounter with being nearly burned at the stake is enough for me!"

"The night life here is deader than I am," Dead Girl groaned.

"I almost wish the Misfits were here to liven things up," Kurt groaned.

That was the moment the Misfits walked into the living room. They had teleported into another part of the mansion. "There they are!" Todd bounded in.

Kurt looked skyward. "I said 'almost'!"

"We need your help," Wanda said. "Where is everybody?"

"Well Scott and Jean went into New York City for the night on a date," Kitty told them. "Logan took Angel and Beast out for a drink at some bar. But basically everyone's here."

"Good, cause we've got a doozy of a problem," Fred remarked. He motioned to Anubis and the other gods. "X-Men meet Anubis the Egyptian God of the Underworld, Sif a Norse Goddess of something, and DB the Greek and Roman God of Wine."

"Technically the God of Grapes and Wine but you get the picture," DB said.

"Huh?" Kitty's jaw dropped.

"A couple powerful gods went AWOL from the other side," Lance explained. "They wanted to make the world a better place and they're starting with a drinking contest in a bar right here in Bayville."

"Huh?" Kurt asked.

"See there's this cat chick Basset who wants to go out and save all the animals running around," Todd continued. "She's Egyptian. Then there's the Norse God Thor and his Greek buddy Hercules that are going to this place for a drink."

"Huh?" Tabitha was struck speechless. (For once.)

"Anubis here is an old friend of the Joes," Althea said casually. "Apparently the Joes saved their ancient treasure from Cobra."

"Huh?" Bobby blinked. "And I repeat, **huh?**"

Dead Girl looked at Anubis. "You are real! **They **were right!"

"**Who **was right?" Kitty looked at her.

"The ghosts I talk to every week, duh!" Dead Girl told her. "How do you think I knew before everyone else Tiffany Weapons was pregnant with her gardener's kid?"

"Okay its official, we've all cracked," Kurt moaned.

"No, I'm afraid this is completely real," Roadblock said. "These guys are the real deal."

"So what are we waiting for?" Shipwreck asked. "Let's all go to that bar and have a drink…With the gods…"

"It has happened," Kitty said to Kurt. "We did crack."

"Yeah, you know insanity isn't that bad once you get used to it," Kurt moaned.

"Obviously this is a bit of a shock…" DB said. Suddenly a vase appeared and several cups. "Here have some sparkling grape juice. Don't worry, it's non alcoholic."

"I sensed a powerful presence in this room," Xavier wheeled in with Ororo behind him. "I…"

"Oh hello there Professor," Kurt said casually as he received his drink. "We're enjoying non alcoholic beverages with some ancient gods who are trying to track down some other ancient gods staying at a bar here in Bayville."

"Huh?" Xavier blinked.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"I don't know about this Logan," Warren grumbled as the three mutants made their way to the bar. "I don't think this is the place for us."

"What are **you** complaining about?" Hank grumbled as he pulled up the sides of his overcoat. He was wearing a hat as well to cover his features. "With your wings hidden under your jacket at least you have a **chance** of attracting a date."

"Yeah especially since they recognize me as a rich guy with a huge bank account," Warren groaned. "That's a real thrill to a guy, being seen as nothing more than a walking wallet."

"Look I'm sure I can help you guys find some skirts in this town," Logan told them. "And even if I don't it's a night out away from the kids."

"Still I must admit I share Warren's apprehension," Hank looked up at the sign and around at the neighborhood. "Are you sure that this establishment would even serve us?"

"Hank, the Brotherhood used to come here all the time in the old days for root beers and chicken wings," Logan told him. "It'll be fine."

"Root beers?" Warren asked, wrinkling his nose.

"I don't know how they did it, but they did it," Logan said as they walked in. Indeed it was a seedy place. There were several bikers and other tough guys shouting and drinking beers, chugging like crazy and partying.

They stopped the instant the three mutants walked into the door. "Uh…Logan?" Hank gulped. "Perhaps this was not the wisest course of action."

Then a huge bald tattooed biker walked up to them. "Please sir, don't hurt Big Charley," The bald tattooed biker cringed. "Big Charley has a sick mother and a dozen puppies at home."

"Relax Bub, we're not here to pick a fight," Logan waved. "We just want to drink and have a good time."

"Yeah, okay…Big Charley understands," Big Charley gulped and ran off. No one dared to hassle them as they sat near the bar. Then they moved to corners and started to drink again, but much more quietly.

"Well this is certainly not the reaction I expected," Hank blinked.

"That's because thanks to those boys that used to come in we've seen too many brawls to do anything stupid like fight mutants," The Bartender told them. "The worst time was when these idiots that called themselves Dreadnoks decided to pick a fight with 'em. They almost burned the place to the ground!" **(Way back in Parallel Lives!) **

"Look we ain't looking for a fight," Logan said. "That's the last thing we want, All we wanna do is relax, have a few beers, watch the guys in the contest and have some fun."

"Contest? What contest?" Warren asked.

"We're having a drinking contest tonight," The Bartender told them. "First prize is free beer for a year. Any of you thinking of entering?"

"I think not," Hank sighed.

"Well I ain't for obvious reasons," Logan said. "My healing factor gives me an unfair advantage. And I know for a fact Flyboy here won't compete."

"Not that I said I would do something like this, but why not?" Warren asked.

"Come on kid, we all know what a featherweight you are when it comes to alcohol!" Logan snorted.

"I'm not **that** bad," Warren defended himself.

"Oh yes you are," Hank said. "Remember the time you got yourself plastered after drinking only a few sips of champagne?"

"If you are referring to the time I was shrunk to the size of a butterfly and doused with the stuff that's not fair!" Warren snapped. "I mean at the time the alcohol was ten times more potent when we were that size!" **(See the fic: Guys I Shrunk the Adults.) **

"Actually I was referring to the instance where we had the day off from teaching and while the students were outside, you went out of your mind," Hank snorted. "Within three minutes you were singing some archaic song from a cartoon. Rather badly I might add."

"That song from the Jetsons," Logan pointed out. "Multiple made me watch it. I think it's called Eek Or Ha Ha or something."

"Eek Opp Ork Ah Ah," Hank corrected. "Now I remember that episode. The daughter Judy wanted to win a contest with this rock star… What was his name? Jeff Steamer?"

"Nah it was Jett Screamer," The Bartender said.

"Are you sure?" Hank asked. "I could have sworn it was something else."

"Who cares who it was!" Warren snapped. "Look Hank I can hold my liquor just as well as you can!"

"Well that's not saying much," Logan snorted.

"Now what do you mean by that?" Hank snapped. "It's not like I turn into a drunken Scotsman or anything!"

"No, but you come pretty close!" Warren said.

"You are coming close to a fat lip!" Hank snapped. "I can out drink you any time."

"Well how about now?" Warren snapped.

"And here comes the entertainment portion of the evening," Logan sighed. Then a commotion caught his attention. "Or maybe not…"

Strutting proudly into the bar were two very odd characters. One was a young man with long black hair and a black beard. He was wearing a short brown toga, gold armbands and laced sandals. "Is this the place thou mentioned?" He spoke to his companion. "Let the revels begin!"

The other man was tall, blonde, wearing blue Viking armor complete with a helmet that had some kind of feathers on it and carried a hammer. "Herc, we're not in the other dimension. You don't have to talk like that anymore."

"Well you must admit it is habit forming," Hercules strode in.

"Oh man they're coming out of the woodwork tonight," Logan rolled his eyes.

"Barkeep! Two of your largest ales!" Hercules strutted in. He elbowed Logan in the side in order to get the drinks.

"Hey! Watch it Mac!" Logan snapped.

"Sir please move out of my way," Hercules said. "Warriors are present!"

"Okay Xena, why don't you go find them?" Logan snapped.

"And people think **I** have an ego," Thor grumbled. "Herc…"

"Logan we don't want to make any trouble," Hank said.

"I ain't making trouble, Tinkerbell over here is!" Logan snapped. "Move it Bub!"

"Sirrah, I shall not," Hercules scoffed. "Perhaps if your mettle exceeded your stature I would comply, but since it doesn't…"

"My **what?** You callin' me **short** pal?" Logan growled.

"Oh no…" Hank put his hand over his face. "Here we go."

"I knew I should have stayed home and watched TV," Warren moaned.

"That's it!" Logan charged at Hercules.

Who simply batted him aside into a wall. "This is beginning to become annoying! Begone!"

"Pardon me sir," Hank pulled Hercules back and lifted him up. "Although I must admit my companion's temper does extend beyond his patience, I do believe you were the one who instigated this minor conflict."

"A blue man beast? In the mortal world?" Hercules was astounded. He managed to slip out of Hank's grasp and throw him against the wall. "And here I thought this dimension had grown boring!"

"I'll show you boring mister!" Logan charged again. Hercules managed to grab him and threw him across the room and broke a table.

"Okay! Time for Big Charley to go apply to hairdresser school!" Big Charley ran out along with the other tough patrons.

"Not **again**…" The bartender wept. "My insurance doesn't cover **this!"**

"Let's see how good you are against adamantium claws!" Logan shot his claws out and charged.

"Zounds!" Hercules gasped. "What manner of being **are** you?"

"The Latin term my good sir is Homo Superior," Hank bounced onto Hercules' back. "More commonly known as mutants. Humans with unique gifts that set them apart from the rest of humanity."

"Get off me!" Hercules struggled, but Hank was quite firm in his grasp.

Unfortunately for him, Thor was stronger. "You notice I'm always the one getting you out of these situations," Thor remarked to Hercules as he dragged Hank off him.

"Great Zeus!" Hercules barely escaped Logan's claws.

"Stand still!" Logan charged again, only to be knocked aside by Hank being thrown by Thor.

"I can't take you **anywhere** can I?" Thor glared at Hercules.

"Hey pal! Those are **my** friends you're tangling with!" Warren had had enough and threw off his overcoat, revealing his wings.

"An angel?" Thor blinked. **"Here?"** He was so startled and off balance the next thing he knew Warren laid him down with a flying tackle.

"I call this the Beast Bounce!" Hank flipped around and rolled himself into a ball, knocking Hercules down.

"Oof!" Hercules was startled.

"That's it Beast! Now he's mine!" Logan charged at Hercules. Fortunately at the last second Hercules grabbed a table and managed to impale Logan's claws on them. "Hey!"

Meanwhile Thor managed to knock back Hank and Warren, destroying more tables. "This guy's stronger than he looks," Warren grumbled as he put a hand to his head.

"Thoust lucky he's not using his hammer," Hercules brushed himself off. "Of course where's the sport in that?" He looked at Logan still stuck with his claws in the table. "This is most amusing. I can't recall a time when I've had such sport!"

"Sport huh? You want a place to sit so badly?" Logan smirked. "Take this table with my regards!" Logan smashed it over Hercules' head and knocked him down.

"OW!" Hercules shouted. "That actually hurt!"

"Yeah and it's going to hurt even more when I…" Logan began when suddenly Hercules started to laugh. "What's so flamin' funny?"

"Enough! Enough! I give! I give!" Hercules laughed.

"You're quitting already?" Logan sheathed his claws.

"What's the point of continuing?" Thor asked. "You've all proven your mettle against us. Not many mortals can say they are the equal of gods in battle."

"Gods?" Logan looked at him. "You're kidding?"

"You mean, you're not mutants?" Warren asked.

"No, but I can see why you would think that," Thor said. "Are there many like you?"

"Let's just say our numbers are growing," Hank waved. "For argument's sake let us say that you are gods. If you are, what are you doing in this establishment of all places?"

"We wanted a drink," Hercules said as he got up.

"Sounds like a good reason to me," Logan shrugged.

"Sirrah, I owe you an apology," Hercules held out his hand. "I am Hercules and this is my companion Thor."

"Ah no big deal," Logan shook it. "I was in the mood for a scrap anyway. I'm Logan. Folks call me Wolverine. That's Hank and Warren, otherwise known as Beast and Angel."

"For obvious reasons," Hank told them. "I take it your namesake is that of the Norse God of Thunder, Son of Odin?"

"The very same," Thor nodded.

"Fascinating," Hank stroked his chin.

"You don't believe these guys do ya?" Warren asked Logan. "Don't you think this is kind of weird?"

"Warren, we live in a mansion filled with mutant teenagers who can do nearly everything under the sun, are friends with insane soldiers and sorcerers and fought everything from Sentinels to demons," Logan pointed out. "What **isn't **weird about us?"

"Sentinels?" Hercules asked. "What are Sentinels?"

"Giant metal robots that exist to exterminate mutants," Hank said. "It's a long story. We've had too many encounters with them for our liking."

"Sounds like a good story," Hercules grinned.

Logan laughed. "You guys are all right. Come on I'll buy you a…beer," He looked around and found the place empty except for the five of them. "Great. Some people can't handle a little fun."

"You don't wanna know what **he** thinks is a **lot** of fun," Warren told Thor.

"So much for the contest," Hercules looked disappointed.

"Well we still have some beers on the bar, no sense in letting 'em go to waste," Logan sat back down. The others joined him. "So much for a quiet night out."

"Logan when you said you'd help us find some…and I quote, 'skirts', I was kind of hoping they'd have women in them," Hank said.

"Yeah but you gotta admit tonight certainly ain't boring," Logan pointed out.

"You mortals truly are strange," Thor shook his head.

"You have no idea," Warren said.

"Still 'tis a shame there was no audience to witness such a glorious fight," Hercules sighed.

"Ah shaddap and pass the peanuts," Logan said.

**Next: Fun with Felines and Viking Marriage Counseling! **


	32. The Furgenhoffen is Gonna Fly

**The Furgenhoffen is Gonna Fly**

"GET THESE STUPID CATS OFF OF ME!" Duncan screamed. He was being mauled by several cats and being chased by several more.

A tall black cat woman in regal Egyptian clothing was chasing him as well. "Insult me and animals will you? Punish him my subjects! Punish him for his evil ways!"

"SOMEBODY STOP WATCHING THE STUPID BALL GAME AND HELP ME ALREADY!" Duncan screamed.

Five mutant girls watched the pandemonium from the sidelines. "Something tells me we found the Cat Goddess," Dead Girl remarked.

"Really? What was your first clue?" Rogue asked sarcastically.

"I'll go call Xavier," Rina sighed as she punched in the cell phone. "Let them know we found our first target."

"Can you call in a pizza while you're at it?" Dead Girl asked. "Hey even the dead get the munchies."

"Uh, shouldn't we be helping that chap?" Betsy pointed to Duncan being mauled by strays.

"Eventually," Wanda told her. "Who are we to tell a goddess to stop having fun?"

"Looks like she's gonna have more fun," Rogue pointed. "Isn't that building Duncan's running into the local FOH headquarters?"

"I believe it is," Wanda remarked as the sounds of yowling cats and humans could be heard.

"What I can't believe is that we forgot the video camera," Betsy blinked.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"That was Rina, they found the Queen of the Cats," Remy told the team that was at the bar where Logan and the others were. "That's the good news."

"What's the bad news?" Shipwreck asked.

"Basset is in the FOH Headquarters building having a contest between the FOH and the Felines," Remy said. "And the cats are cleaning their clocks."

"Oh I wish I could see that," Lance chuckled.

"I wish we'd brought more of us," Kurt grumbled as they walked up to the bar.

"I think there's too many of us," Remy groaned. The group consisted of Kurt, Remy, Shipwreck, Anubis, Lance, Fred, Peter, Doug (in case they needed a translator), DB, and Roadblock.

"Well considering we may have to take on two renegade gods…" Kurt explained. "We need all the strength we can get."

"We needed to have some people stay back at the Institute," Remy said. "Remember what happened the last time most of us left?"

"Well hopefully the Institute will not get invaded again," Peter told him. "What do we do now?"

"They're in there," Anubis said. "Just let me do the talking and be prepared for anything." They opened the door, walked in and stopped.

"Okay, I was not prepared for **this**," Doug blinked.

The bar was a mess. There were several holes in the walls. Part of the ceiling was missing. Hank was singing and dancing on one of the few unbroken tables with Hercules as they were chugging beers. Warren was trying to fly and hiccuping. Logan and Thor were watching with amused interest as they were calmly drinking several beers.

"Eep…Opp…Ork…" Warren hiccuped. "Ah Haaaaaaaaaa…."

"Ladadadadadada!" Hercules and Hank sang wildly, kicking up their heels.

"Somebody should tell that guy in the skirt he should really put some underwear on," Lance winced.

"Are they **drunk?"** Kurt's jaw dropped.

"No, they're engaging in improvised comedy," Logan told them. "Bunch of lightweights. All of them."

"And I thought Hercules couldn't hold his ale," Thor chuckled. "Hey, DB! Anubis."

"Brawling again?" Anubis folded his arms. "Or are you trying to save the Earth from alcohol?"

"Here we go…" Hercules hiccuped and got off the table. "Lecture time."

"Look I meant to start going about saving people, but Hercules insisted on making a pit stop here and I figured…" Thor began.

"Thor, I thought you'd learned your lesson a few decades ago when you tried to 'help' humanity the last time," Anubis sighed. "Or have you forgotten Odin's lesson of Humility after you broke the truce with the Frost Giants?"

"No," Thor said. "But that experience has taught me to value human life even more as well as appreciate my powers."

"The lesson of what?" Logan asked.

"His father turned him into a lame mortal for a brief time," Hercules told him. "Long story."

"And what of the Vision of the Spiral and the Trial of Ragnarok?" Anubis snapped. "I thought you would have learned something about interfering with mortals after **that **ordeal!"

"I have! Long and hard did I ponder the consequences," Thor said. "And I did learn two things: One, to never allow any mortal to worship me as a god again! And the second to never marry the Enchantress…Brrrrr!"

"What?" Hank looked at the Gods.

"Apparently Odin showed Thor an alternate reality where he took over the Earth and enslaved it's people and well…" DB waved his arm. "It was quite strange to put it simply."

"Who's the Enchantress?" Logan asked.

"Thoust do **not** want to know," Hercules groaned.

"Can't be any worse than the White Queen," Logan shrugged. "Or Selene."

"Thoust know Selene?" Hercules spat out his drink. "**The** Selene?"

"Black hair, former ruler of Nova Roma, can hold her own against a whole army of mutants?" Logan asked.

"Yes," Thor heard that. "That's the witch! She's a powerful sorceress who has ties to the devil himself."

"That's her," Logan said.

"I've tangled with that she devil once too often to forget," Hercules winced.

"She has the ability to drain the life force out of mortals in order to keep her immortal youth," Thor said. "How did **you **meet her?"

"Well it was rather recently," Hank told them. "What happened was…"

"Excuse me!" Anubis grunted loudly. "Can we postpone this discussion for another time? I am trying to restore the balance of order in your dimension here!"

"I think you're doing a good job of it," Fred spoke up. "For what it's worth."

Anubis closed his eyes in pain. "**Now** I remember why I find mingling with mortals distasteful."

The bartender trudged out of the back room carrying more beer bottles. "I knew I should have made a run for it instead of hiding under the bar. Oh no…" He stopped when he saw the others.

"Hi there!" Fred waved. "Got any hot wings?"

"Not you guys again…" The bartender whined. "Look we're out of root beer and there's already been one fight tonight so please…"

"Well there's gonna be another," Fred told him as he looked over his shoulder. "Guess who decided not to stay at the mansion after all?"

"THERE YOU ARE!" Sif slammed open the bar door. "YOU LAZY GOOD FOR NOTHING…"

"Sif!" Thor sputtered.

"Who's she?" Logan asked.

"His wife," Lance said.

"Sif, love of my life…" Thor sputtered. "Queen of my Heart and…"

"STUFF IT!" Sif growled. "WE NEED TO TALK MISTER! AND BY WE, I MEAN **ME **TELLING **YOU **OFF!"

"Oh dear look at the time!" Hercules gulped. "You know I think we should call it a night…"

"DON'T EVEN THINK OF MOVING!" Sif grabbed Hercules by the tunic and shoved him into a wall. "YOU'RE PART OF THE REASON MY MARRIAGE FAILED!"

"I'll be right back. I have to go see how Basset is doing." Anubis sighed and disappeared.

"Why do I have the feeling **we** should have done what **he** did?" Remy asked.

"How did you find me?" Thor asked.

"Simple, I looked for the slimiest, most pathetic dunghole on this planet and surprise, I find **you!"** Sif shouted. "Not to mention that drunkard you hang out with that you call a friend as well as…" She looked around. "An angel and a blue ape?"

"Hey! This place isn't that bad!" The Bartender protested. "It has good hot wings and…" Sif glared at him. "I think I'll go home and call my insurance agent now…" He ran off.

"Something tells me we won't be allowed back here for a while," Logan sighed as he put his beer glass down. By now Thor and Sif were screaming at each other in part English and ancient Norse. "So they really are gods huh?"

"Yeah the Joes met with Anubis years ago," Kurt said.

"For some reason that does not surprise me," Hank sighed. "This is going to be a long evening."

"Hey at least we're getting free drinks and entertainment," Shipwreck downed a drink. "What could be better than that?"

"Good idea!" DB created some ale. "Let's have some real drinks!"

"Just what we need around here," Logan rubbed his head. "More drunks."

"I have had it!" Sif threw a table at Thor. "You never listen to me! You are nothing more than a **Furgenfifflefantemutter!"**

"What does **that **mean?" Lance asked.

"Well if I remember my ancient Norse dialects," Doug scratched his head. "Roughly translated it means 'Husband Who Cries too Much in Bed'."

"Don't start with me woman!" Thor shouted. "You are not exactly the most understanding mate either! You are the most foul mannered Urgemargemurgen!"

"Urgen-what?" Remy asked.

"That means, 'Woman Who Has to Shave Her Mustache Every Half Hour,'" Doug explained. He winced when Sif started screaming. "I'm not gonna tell you what **that **means. Let's just say it's triple X rated!"

"I always hate fights with subtitles," Logan groaned.

"Every time I try to be understanding and supportive, **you **go off the deep end!" Thor shouted.

"What about the time Loki cut off all my hair?" Sif shouted. "You weren't exactly Mr. Supportive then!"

"I beat him up and made him give you a wig made out of gold! What more do you want?" Thor shouted back.

"You still were laughing your head off and that wig itched!" Sif shouted.

"Obviously you two have issues," Fred told them.

"Gee what was your **first **clue, Blob?" Logan rolled his eyes. "Shipwreck can't you do something?"

"I am doing something," Shipwreck was drinking. "And I'm doing it very well."

"Why did I ask **him** for help?" Logan shook his head. "Stupid question."

"I think Fred has things in hand now," Remy pointed. Fred was now between the warring couple attempting to counsel them.

"Now why don't we take some deep cleansing breaths?" Fred spoke in a cheerful voice.

"Why don't thou shut thy trap?" Thor glared at him.

"You shut **thy** trap and **breathe** mister!" Sif shouted.

"Fine!" Thor grumbled something in Norse.

"That's not a very nice thing to say about one's mother in law," Doug blinked.

"Now the key for any good marriage is communication…" Fred began. "Why don't we talk about our feelings?"

"Shipwreck hand me a drink will ya?" Logan winced.

"Sif tell me when you think the problems in your marriage started?" Fred began.

"I know when **our **problems started," Kurt rolled his eyes. "The day Blob picked up a psychiatric book!"

"In my case it was the day I decided to stay at the Institute instead of doing the smart thing and leave town," Logan remarked.

Meanwhile the talks had quickly broken down as Sif and Thor were fighting with sword and hammer at each other. "Yes, you're both frustrated," Fred said calmly. "It's good that you're letting your feelings show."

BOOM!

"Not so good for the bar," Shipwreck calmly stared at the hole in the wall.

"I have had it woman!" Thor shouted. "I want you out of my life!"

"Gladly!" Sif swung her sword at him, missed and kicked him in the shin. "I want you out of your life too!"

"Is it me being slightly tipsy or did that not make any sense?" Hank hiccuped.

Sif screamed a few more things in Norwegian then disappeared. "What happened?" Remy asked.

"She's going home to her mother," Thor said bitterly as he plopped down onto a remaining barstool. "And she's asking my father for a divorce."

"Odds are she's gonna clean his castle," Hercules grumbled. "If any of my wives are an indication of how this is gonna go."

"Yeah well as sad as all this is…" Logan was getting annoyed. "Maybe you should…"

He didn't get to finish that sentence when suddenly the door to the bar blew open. "Now what's going on?" Lance coughed.

Omega Red and over a dozen Hydra troops in body armor appeared. "Wolverine…I've been waiting for this moment," He grinned, flexing his tendrils.

"Who the hell is **this **guy?" Shipwreck asked.

"Omega Red," Logan growled. "He's got a grudge against me for some reason. Why I have no idea."

"It does not matter…" Omega Red growled. "For soon you will all be nothing more than a memory! Destroy them!"

**Next: A good old fight with a bunch of bad guys and even more surprise guests! Gotta love it! **


	33. The Night The Lights Went Out In Bayvill

**The Night The Lights Went Out In Bayville**

It was the perfect plan. To wait until Wolverine's defenses were down and ambush him in a place he would never expect. He had taken over a dozen of Hydra's most experienced soldiers, given them the most high quality weapons and armor. He had even taken the precaution of having several more troops in tanks and robotic armor suits as backup in case some of his friends from the Institute interfered.

Unfortunately for Omega Red, he did not expect so many mutants, two GI Joes and three half drunk gods to be there at the same time.

"YEEEEHAAAAAAA!" Shipwreck shouted as the clanked the skulls of two Hydra troopers together.

"FEEL THE WRATH OF HERCULES!" Hercules shouted as he grabbed a tank and twirled it around. Afterwards he shook out, thenknocked out the very dizzy occupants before destroying it.

"Have some wine on me!" DB laughed as he created a giant wine vat that poured a huge wave of wine over several more troopers.

"This is fun!" Fred shouted as he clobbered more troopers. "Very therapeutic!"

"AAGGHH!" Omega Red screamed as Thor sent him sailing backwards with a hit from his hammer.

"Pick a card! Any card!" Remy laughed as he sent several charged cards towards another tank, which was easily dealt with. Peter was in his metal form destroying another robot. Kurt was teleported one Hydra soldier into a fountain. Roadblock and Hank were also finding it easy to fight. Logan was slashing through robot armor as easily as a hot knife through butter. Lance was creating earthquakes and giant holes in the ground. As for Doug and Warren…Well…

"Oooh! Look at all the fun stuff going on," Warren hiccuped. Doug was holding him down.

"Great, I get the **hard** job!" Doug moaned as he tried to keep Warren from taking off.

"I wanna fight!" Warren tried to escape.

"No you don't!" Doug struggled. "Not in your condition!"

"Second and third wave! Attack! Attack!" Omega Red shouted in his communicator. More robots flew in over the horizon.

"Robots…" Logan swore. "They had to bring flamin' robots here!"

"Are these the Sentinels thoust talked about?" Thor asked.

"Nah, Sentinels are a lot bigger," Logan dodged a laser blast. "But these things are just as nasty!"

"The more the merrier!" Hercules laughed as he smashed a tank into one.

Meanwhile on the local news…

"Animal control officers are baffled at this strange phenomenon," Reporter Trish Tilby spoke on camera. It showed several dozen cats surrounding the FOH building. "The animals refuse to allow the occupants of the building to leave. The trapped members of the FOH claim that this is a mutant attack. They claim a giant cat woman is behind this and was last seen chasing a huge dog man…with some kind of gold scepter and a ball of catnip. However no mutants have been found at the scene."

BOOM!

"What the…?" Trish looked around. "Harv! Get a shot of that! I think I spoke too soon!" The camera took a long-range picture of several Hydra robots flying, shooting lasers and exploding. "There's some kind of firefight going on over there! More robots and…Are those tanks? Come on! We have to get in closer!"

"Oh no…" Xavier winced as he saw what was happening on the television back at the mansion. "This is a disaster."

"You're telling me!" Todd said. "The place where we used to get the best hot wings in Bayville is being burned to ashes! I loved that place yo!"

Sam looked at him. "You are a very weird little person, you know that?"

"Wavedancer, use your teleportation watches to transport a team there and help them," Ororo ordered. "I'll go call the lawyers."

The fight continued as more Hydra troops and robots appeared. "Just how many people did Omega Red think he needed to take me on?" Logan shouted.

"Not enough apparently," Hercules laughed as he smashed another tank.

"Let's rock and roll!" Lance laughed as he created a huge shockwave that knocked over a robot trooper. Unfortunately he didn't notice another one looming over him until it was too late.

"Lance!" Kitty then appeared and grabbed him, phasing him clear of the damage. Angelica blasted the robot from the sky with her heat rays.

"What are you doing here?" Lance blinked.

"Saving your butts," Angelica flew up to them. "What do **you** think?"

"Yeah it's kind of hard to miss a bunch of giant robots running around in the streets," Kitty said. "Especially when they're on TV!"

"AAAHHH!" Several Hydra troopers ran from a very ticked off Rina. "RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY!"

"This is madness!" Omega Red screamed at the mutants. "That is it! I don't care if I have to blow up this entire city! I will get my revenge on you Wolverine!" He activated his communicator. "Hydra Fangs! Blow up the entire city on my order!"

"Guys! We got trouble!" Angelica shouted as five fighters flew in.

"What do those things do?" Thor asked.

"They're gonna blow up the city!" Kurt told him.

"Then I shall destroy them!" Thor lifted up his hammer. It began to glow. "Mjolnir! Give me thy strength and show your fury!"

Suddenly lightning crashed in the sky. "Storm's not doing this is she?" Lance gulped.

"No she's not," Althea said. "Unless whatever the lawyers are telling her isn't good."

Suddenly Thor let loose his hammer, which started to glow with electricity. To their amazement it hit all five aircraft in succession and flew back to Thor's hand like a boomerang. "AAHHHHH!" Thor shouted a battle cry as lightning struck all around him.

"Whoa…" Todd gulped. "Remind me never to tick **that **guy off!"

"I will get my revenge on you Wolverine! If it is the last thing I do!" Omega Red screamed as he fled with all the Hydra that could move.

"And it may be," Althea called out.

"There goes Omega Red and what's left of Hydra," Pietro said. The streetlight above him fizzled out. "Not to mention the city's main the electric power cables."

"Way to go Blondie…" Logan groaned as the lights flickered out all over Bayville.

"Uh maybe we should all go?" Todd asked. "While it's dark and nobody can see us?"

"For once Toad, you have the right idea!" Logan said. Then a bright light shone on all of them. "Oh crap…"

"Stay right there!" A familiar voice boomed from one of several SHEILD helicopters. One of the helicopters landed and two familiar faces appeared.

"Why am I not surprised you're in the middle of all this?" Captain America sighed. He looked at Nick Fury. "All right! I owe you twenty bucks!"

"Cap? What the hell are you doing here?" Logan asked.

"We were sent to warn you about Hydra," Captain America told him. "Omega Red had set a trap for you." He looked at the devastation. "Apparently you didn't need our help."

"Nice to see you people actually left some buildings intact for once," Nick Fury folded his arms. "But did you really have to cause a blackout?"

"Actually the fault was mostly mine," Thor coughed. "I got carried away."

"Who the Sam Hill is this guy?" Nick Fury asked.

"Thor, god of Thunder," Thor told him. "That over there is Hercules."

"Yeah and I'm Mickey Mouse," Nick Fury gave him a skeptical look.

"It's true Mr. Mouse," Hercules hiccuped. "We are the gods of the ancients."

"Yeah right," Fury chomped on his cigar. "Now look here, I don't know what happened but…"

Suddenly there was a crash of thunder and the sky was bathed in bright light. A giant man with a long beard clad in brilliant Viking armor appeared. At his side were Anubis and Sif. "THOR!"

"Uh oh…" DB gulped. "Thor your Dad's here and he's pretty mad."

"Holy Toledo…" Fury's cigar fell out of his open mouth. "Who is that guy?"

"I believe that is Odin, the lord of all the Viking Gods," Hank was sobering up very fast.

"Thor! Thou hath most displeased me!" Odin barked. "Once again thou has broken the law and trespassed into the mortal world! Look at the devastation around you! Hast thou learned nothing?"

"Uh, excuse me your godship sir!" Shipwreck waved. "It wasn't all his fault. Hydra had a lot to do with it too."

"Dad shut up," Althea glared at him.

"It's true sir," Hercules offered. "There were these villains…"

"Don't bother, I hath seen everything!" Odin shouted. "And you are not one to talk sirrah! I will have words with **your** father soon enough about **your **behavior!"

"Oh boy…" Hercules gulped. "I am in deep Pegasus do do…"

"Thoust certainly are!" Odin snapped.

"Father please!" Thor said. "The fault was mine alone! Do not punish anyone else but me!"

"Very well," Odin stroked his beard. "You still wish to help mortals despite your past lessons?"

"I do Father," Thor said. "I still believe my powers can benefit mortals."

"Then in this mortal world you shall remain with a quarter of your powers restrained," Odin spoke. "For twenty and five turns of the seasons. If in that time you have succeeded in making this Earth a better place, you shall prove yourself worthy to return to Asgard."

"Only a quarter?" Lance whispered.

"Trust me, that's a lot for a god," DB whistled.

Thor started to glow. He seemed to be in pain. Then he slumped to the ground. "Work hard and bring glory," Odin ordered. "If thou fails, all thine powers shall be stripped and thou will permanently be made mortal! Immortals, it is time we shall depart."

"Yes and Hercules your father has told me that he has some stables for you to clean when you get back," Anubis folded his arms. "And that is the first of your punishments."

"I was right…" Hercules groaned.

"Thank you for your assistance Misfits and X-Men," Anubis said. "But it is time we departed. Farewell." All the gods then disappeared, leaving Thor behind.

A piece of paper fluttered to the ground. Thor caught it and read it. "What is it?" Doug asked him.

"My divorce papers," Thor groaned. "She got the castle, the chariots…Everything. FINE! GOOD RIDDANCE! IT'S WORTH IT! HA! HA!"

"Do I really want to know the whole story behind this?" Captain America looked at Roadblock.

"No you don't," Roadblock shook his head.

"I didn't think so," Captain America sighed.

"Some days it just ain't worth it to get outta bed," Nick Fury held his head. "God I need a drink."

"That's how this mess started, ironically," Hank told him.

"You okay Thor?" Fred asked.

"Yes. But where shall I go now?" Thor asked.

"Oh no…" Logan winced in pain. "Not here…Please not **here."**

"Relax Logan," Captain America put his hand on his shoulder. "I think I can help. Thor, how would you like a job?"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

A few hours later several exhausted X-Men were gathering in the living room to relax after the night's events. "What a night…" Kurt plopped in his chair.

"We're lucky the Institute has separate generators," Remy said. "Otherwise we'd be in the dark too."

"I just feel lucky we don't have a Norse God living in the house now," Rogue agreed. "Although I gotta admit he would have been a lot better than Mystique any day of the week. Who am I kidding? A dead rat would be more welcome than her!"

"The Professor is still on the phone with the lawyers," Bobby told them. "I think this time they won't be able to get a lawsuit to stick against us since SHEILD promised to back us up."

"We may be safe from legal charges but that ain't gonna stop folks from blaming us," Rogue told him. "Why people in Bayville hate us reason Number 462!"

"Well at least Scott and Jean weren't here for all this," Kitty said. "You know how uptight they've been lately."

At that moment Scott and Jean trudged in. "What a night…" Jean moaned. "Hey did you guys know that all the street lights in Bayville are out?"

"Yeah, so how was your evening?" Kitty decided to change the subject.

"Don't ask…" Scott groaned. "Please don't ask."

**Next: What happened with Scott and Jean? What happened to Thor? And what happened to the plot of this story? Most of your questions will be revealed in the next chapter! But since I'm going off on vacation it'll be a while. You can always read some of my old stuff and review it! Have fun! I know I will! **


	34. Scott and Jean's Normal Night Out

**Scott and Jean's Normal Night Out**

"I can't believe we're actually doing this," Scott sighed happily. "It's like a dream." He was driving his car from a posh Manhattan restaurant. "We actually had an entire meal without anyone recognizing us or anything bad happening."

"Well to be honest I kind of had something to do with it," Jean coughed. "I sort of telepathically cloaked us. So that people would think we were another couple."

"You can do that?" Scott asked.

"I can do a lot of things now," Jean told him. "I've been working on my powers with Betsy and the Professor."

"Hey, I'm not complaining," Scott said. "Too bad you weren't able to do that trick back when we were in Bayville High. It would have made some of our classes go a lot smoother."

"Scott, the last thing I want to do right now is think about Bayville. It's so rare that we get time away from the mansion, let alone go out by ourselves," Jean sighed. "Good thing we got the kids to keep themselves busy while we go on our date." 

"Yeah the last thing we need is our loony friends wrecking everything," Scott grumbled. "Then again since we don't have any other friends…"

"Scott don't be ridiculous! We know plenty of people outside the Misfits and Joes!"

"Yeah and none of them are normal!" Scott told her.

"Don't exaggerate," Jean said.

"All right," Scott challenged. "Name **one **person we know who's normal. Just one."

"All right," Jean said. "There's…uh…Well there's…um…" 

"Go on," Scott said. "I'm waiting."

Jean thought. "Well…Amanda. There's Amanda."

"Kurt's girlfriend?" Scott asked. "The sorceress in training?"

"Okay bad example," Jean sighed. "But she's sort of normal."

"Compared to some of the other people we know, yes," Scott said.

"Her parents are nice," Jean said. "Once they stopped hating us."

"And once we learned that Mrs. Sefton was a sorceress and her husband had a nervous breakdown when he found out that his wife was lying to him for all these years," Scott added. "I think its safe to say that in the normal category they don't qualify."

"Okay…" Jean tried a different tactic. "Paul! We know Paul!"

"Mainframe's son?" Scott asked.

"Yeah the one who was your friend in school," Jean said. "I haven't seen him in ages. What's he doing now?"

"He went into a special ops unit," Scott said. "He's in the FBI recruitment training program. They're setting up a mutant division."

"Okay well that's still…" Jean began. "Sort of normal…"

"Jean last I heard of him he was somewhere in Montana learning how to make explosives," Scott said. "Again that kind of edges out of the category of normal. What about Taryn? I haven't heard from her since she moved to Washington DC."

"Oh…You haven't watched the news lately have you?"

"Not lately, it's too depressing. Why? What happened? Is she okay?"

"Oh yeah," Jean said. "She's going to get a book deal soon about her experiences as an intern to some Senator."

"Say no more," Scott stopped her. "I think I get the picture. I guess it's too much to hope for that Senator in question is Kelly right?"

"That would be perfect if it was," Jean sighed. "Now that I think about it, that paranoid bigot is the closest thing to normal we know."

"I told you," Scott said.

"If only we had some other friends," Jean said. "Meet some new people we could hang out with."

"Where Jean? Couples R' Us?" Scott asked. "The Normal Friends Agency?"

"Okay, okay you've made your point," Jean sighed.

"Face it Jean, nobody sane would hang out with a couple of mutants," Scott sighed.

"You don't know that," Jean said.

"Jean two words: Cruise Ship," Scott reminded her.

"Now **you're** forgetting something," Jean told him. "Remember the islanders? They accepted us."

"Yeah and all we had to do is save them from a volcano eruption twice," Scott said. "Which it turned out Amara caused. Luckily none of them ever found out!"

"Well maybe tonight will be different and we can relax," Jean said as they pulled into the club parking lot. "I hope no one recognizes us. I'm not up to continuously cloak us all night."

"How about we just play it by ear?" Scott told her. Soon they were inside the club. "Do you want to dance?"

"Let's get something to drink first, I could really use a club soda," Jean admitted. They made their way to the bar. There was only one other couple there. "Hello? Excuse me?"

"You gotta talk louder than that, honey," A tall brunette in a black dress and a nasal Queens accent told her. "Jerk's been stoned all night."

Her companion, a tall man with brown hair and a goatee shouted. "Hey! Hello? I'd like a drink sometime before noon tomorrow!"

The bartender was clearly not paying attention to anything but what he was saying on the phone. "Un-freaking-believable!" He kept saying over and over into the phone.

"What's un-freaking believable is that this guy is still working here," The man groaned.

"I'm Rachel Booker and this is my boyfriend Rob Reinstein," She crooned.

"Oh," Jean said. "I'm Jean Grey and this is my boyfriend Scott Summers," Jean said, deciding on a policy of honesty.

"You look like you're new in town," Rachel said. "You just transfer from college or something?"

"You mean you really don't know…?" Scott began.

"The college campus scene that well," Jean covered. "To be honest neither do we. You know how it is, pre med and all."

"Pre med? Wow that's really cool," Rachel said. "So are you gonna be a surgeon or something?"

"I'd like to work in genetics," Jean said before she realized she made a slip. "Or uh, pediatrics."

"Honey, stick with genetics. I hear that's a great field," Rachel began. "Or uh, working with sick kids is great too. Are you in college too Scott?"

"No uh, I work at a school," Scott began.

"So you're like a teacher or something?" Rob asked.

"Or something…Yeah," Scott said. "I don't have my degree but…Uh what do you guys do?"

"Uh…Night school," Rachel said quickly. "And so is Rob. So, do either of you watch the Apprentice?"

It was the start of a pleasant night where the four of them laughed and talked. _"Jean are we ever going to tell these people we're mutants?" _Scott asked Jean via their telepathic connection.

_"Eventually," _Jean admitted. _"Scott please, all I want is one night where we can at least pretend to be normal! I don't want to scare these people." _

Suddenly Rachel grabbed Rob by the arm. "Rob honey, come on, let's get some drinks. You're buying!"

"What I…" Rob began as Rachel dragged him off. "What's your deal?"

"Don't lie to me Robert," Rachel hissed as she pulled him into a corner. "I could sense you trying to feel them out. Trying to make them more susceptible so they'll be easy pickings huh? Well forget about it!"

"What? I was just…" Rob whined.

"Listen you!" Rachel sneered. "This is the first time in decades I get to hang around with someone normal! So don't blow it for me!"

"But Rachel…" Rob said. "I'm hungry!"

"I don't freaking care Rob!" Rachel snapped. "Besides you ate before we left!"

"Yeah a duck!" Rob said. "What kind of meal is a duck?"

"It's called Gourmet, Rob," Rachel said. "Sometimes some of us like a little variety in our diet."

"We have variety all the time! Just last night we had Chinese!" Rob told her.

"For the last time Robert Irving Reinstein, he was **Korean!"** Rachel snapped. "Just once I would like to make some friends that you **don't** eat! So keep those fangs in tonight or so help me I will yank them out!"

"Man I miss the seventies," Rob groaned. "You were a lot more fun back then and a lot less picky."

"I was also stoned half the time thanks to all those hippies and disco freaks we ate!" Rachel snapped.

"You say it like it's a bad thing," Rob muttered as they made their way back to Scott and Jean. "So would you guys like to come back to our place and hang out?"

"What?" Rachel blinked. "Uh our place is a mess!"

"No it isn't," Rob said.

"Well uh…" Scott was about to say no when something caught his eye. There were five young men with FOH buttons and T-shirts on. "Yeah! Let's go! Right now!"

"Scott…" Jean then saw the FOH. "Why not? Let's go!"

"But it's a mess," Rachel began.

"Oh I don't mind!" Jean said quickly as she got up. "It can't be any worse than my room!"

"Yeah let's get out of here," Scott agreed. They managed to get out of the club before they were recognized. Soon they were in a fashionable loft. "Wow, nice place."

"We like it," Rachel said. She glared at Rob. "I just need to check my makeup. Be nice."

"I'm always nice," Rob told her as she went into the bedroom. "So anybody want some wine?"

"Uh no, we don't drink that much," Jean said.

"Really?" Rob bared his fangs. "I'm kind of thirsty."

"What the…?" Scott gasped as Rob stalked them.

"ROB! FREEZE MISTER!" Rachel stormed back into the room.

"Joking! Joking! Fake teeth…?" Rob gulped.

"You tried to eat them didn't you?" Rachel sighed.

"I was hungry!" Rob whined.

"You're **always **hungry!" Rachel snapped. "I can't believe you! One night! That's all I ask! You keep your teeth to yourself for **one night** and **this** happens! This is Boston all over again!"

"That was fifty years ago!" Rob shouted.

"Yeah and you still haven't learned your lesson!" Rachel shouted. "You'd think you were just turned last night the way you behave! You're a hundred and thirty years old! Act your age!"

"So you guys are vampires then?" Scott asked casually. He looked at Jean. "Good call."

"You mean you're not shocked?" Rachel asked.

"Oddly enough…No," Jean said. "Actually this is pretty typical of us."

"So what's the problem?" Rob asked Rachel. "Let's just turn them into vampires. Then you won't be whining about how you never go out with any friends!"

"You know Rob, for the first time in over a century, you actually have a good idea," Rachel grinned.

"All right!" Rob bared his fangs and leapt at Jean. Jean casually shoved him away with her telekinesis.

"I don't think so," Jean told him. "We have **enough** trouble being mutants thank you very much!"

"You people are freaks?" Rob blinked as he stood up. He glared at Rachel. "So much for **your **bright idea of finding some 'normal' friends!"

"Mutants…" Rachel grumbled. "It figures. Of all the people we could have hooked up with tonight, we just had to go out with **mutants!"**

"Like **you're** one to talk!" Scott snapped as he put a hand to his visor and blasted Rachel. She screamed and disintegrated on contact.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?" Rob was horrified. "How did you **do** that?"

"Well I absorb sunlight into my body and they're converted into my optic blasts," Scott said. "They have some of the same properties as sunlight. So I guess they would affect vampires."

"Oh," Rob looked. "So that's how you killed my girlfriend."

"Aren't vampires already dead?" Jean asked.

"Oh yeah," Rob scratched his head. "I forgot."

"Well then that makes this a lot easier!" Jean focused her telekinesis.

"**What** a lot easier?" Rob asked. Suddenly a large splinter of wood fled through the air straight into his heart. "Oh man…"

Scott finished him off with an optic beam and he disintegrated with a scream. The two mutants looked at the mess. Scott and Jean looked at each other. "Don't say it," Jean warned him.

"I don't think I have to **say** anything," Scott said as they turned to leave. "The evidence speaks for itself."

"Well it was sort of a normal evening," Jean sighed. "I mean before they tried to kill us."

"Yeah normal for Buffy the Vampire Slayer," Scott quipped.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"You mean you guys actually spent the night with **vampires **and didn't know it?" Kitty blinked.

"Yeah, but up until the time they tried to kill us it was a pretty good evening," Scott admitted. "Come to think of it, I think this was one of our better dates."

"So what happened here?" Jean asked.

"The Misfits came over with a bunch of ancient Gods who were tracking down some **more **ancient gods," Rogue told them. "One of them was an Egyptian Cat Goddess who sent a ton of cats to maul Duncan Matthews and a bunch of his FOH buddies for some reason."

"The others were Hercules and Thor who got into a fight with Logan, Beast and Angel at a bar the Brotherhood used to go to," Bobby explained. "After they fought Beast and Angel got drunk. And then Thor's wife tracked him down and started screaming at him and breaking stuff."

"And that's when Shipwreck decided to get some free drinks," Kurt groaned. "To be fair, the Blob decided to play marriage counselor at the time so…"

"The next thing we know Omega Red busts in with some Hydra agents and then **another **fight breaks out," Doug groaned. "Before we know it, robots are on the loose and we're fighting an army! Captain America and several SHIELD Agents show up to arrest them, but not before Thor pulled some weird mojo and got all the lights in Bayville to go out."

"Long story short," Kurt sighed. "Most of the gods went back home except for Thor who got his powers reduced by his dad. He's joining up with Captain America to form a new superhero squad. Needless to say we got blamed for all the destruction."

"And that was pretty much our evening," Bobby said.

Scott looked at them. "You always have to top us don't you?"

**Okay obviously I took a few liberties with Scott's powers. (Like no one else does?) Next: More wacky fun and more plotlines...Right after I get back from my other vacation. Hey, I have a busy summer life! Places to go and people to annoy! Enjoy! **


	35. Fragments

**Fragments**

Her wounds healed long ago, Selene still lingered in her secret retreat pondering the recent turn of events. She knew she was probably kicked out of the Inner Circle for her betrayal but that didn't bother her. It didn't matter that she was no longer the Black Queen. Meaningless titles didn't concern her. She had more than enough real power to deal with her former colleagues when they crossed paths.

Next time however she would be more prepared. It had been so long that anyone had truly challenged her she had never dreamed anyone could harm her. Especially Frost and her adopted brats. _I've been careless, _She frowned as she chastised herself. _I've let myself get too complacent with my powers over the past few decades. I should be honing my skills. Increasing my power. The Dark One knows I'll need it if those fools succeed in releasing the Phoenix Force and bind it to someone. _

_I have to find the Destiny Stone. It may be the only thing that can counteract it if it happens. Yes, that's my next course of action. To search for it and to focus on my strength and powers so they'll be at their peak. Logically that's the only thing that should be on my mind._

But it wasn't.

_I know he's dead and long gone…But I can't stop thinking about him. _She moved to a small computer screen and brought up some files. "Avalanche…" She read the file. "It's a coincidence. It's got to be. Unless…"

Selene mused some more. "Reincarnation? It's possible. Wouldn't it be something after all these centuries? Could it be…if he is Dominicus…Would the Destiny Stone bind itself to him? He protected it once but because of me…" She frowned. "Is this some cosmic joke? A farce that I have play again? No…No this time the roles are reversed. **I** am the one with the power this time!"

She got up and looked at her favorite painting. It was the painting of a Greek soldier with long hair. A soldier that had a startling resemblance to Lance but older. "Dominicus…if it **is** you, I promise this time I won't lose you again."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

It seemed like a lifetime ago since Gloria Leech and her son Dorian had fled into the sanctuary of the Chicago Morlocks, affectionately named 'The Vault'. But strangely enough she seemed more at home here even thought she was the only human.

Not long after she and Dorian arrived she had taken in Dorian's little friend Artie. Soon there were other young children in the tunnels, all had escaped either abusive families, orphanages or simply on the run from the GRSO. She found herself becoming a second mother to them as well as a day care provider and teacher. She had even found a reasonable space for the children to play in and watched over them like a hawk.

"Good news," Postman walked in with a bag. "Eve and I were able to go topside today and got some books and toys from one of the Salvation Army bins."

"That's a relief," Gloria sighed as she dove in. "I swear those kids are going to tear each other apart over that Spongebob Squarepants doll."

"Well now I got him a little friend," Postman took out another. "His name's Patrick the Starfish. He was in one of those little machines with the claw that you use to drop and pick out. Eve used her electric powers creatively and got him."

"Isn't that dangerous?" Gloria said. "She could have been spotted."

"Not in this particular part of town," Postman said. "But rumors are even here the GRSO is starting to move in. It's like they won't rest until they got every single mutant in a cage or dead."

"It's getting worse isn't it?" Gloria asked.

"I'm afraid so," Postman grumbled. "Fortunately we're shielded in the Vault but lord knows how long that's gonna last."

"You never told me about the Vault and why we're shielded," Gloria asked.

"It used to be a military complex of sorts,"Solitaire walked in. "Actually it was a shelter for a terrorist group named Cobra."

"Cobra?" Gloria gasped.

"Yes that's why we have not only advanced circuitry but special materials in the metal and pipes that shields us from detection,"Solitaire explained. "Don't worry, Cobra believes this place blew up years ago and it's not on any map."

"But why are the GRSO after mutants?" Gloria asked.

"Who knows? To make weapons out of them or simply eliminate them,"Solitaire sighed. "They caught a newbie last night. It was on the news. Kid literally started to spark up in the middle of a mall when they were doing a sweep. Never had a chance."

"Talk about your bad timing," Postman groaned. "Rescue mission?"

"No, he's lost…"Solitaire told him.

Gloria had quickly learned that being 'lost' meant that a mutant was taken away to some unknown military facility, never to be heard from again. "God help him…" She breathed.

"God help us all," Postman agreed.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"And that's all we know boss," The hit man with broad shoulders reported. "We're pretty sure GI Joe has Mystique." A meeting was taking place in a secluded cavern with strange colored tapestry.

"Of course they have Mystique you fool!" A tall red clad ninja snapped. Three other red ninjas were behind him. "Who else would interfere with us?"

"Quiet!" A tall figure clad in a strange black outfit with gray markings spoke. His face was covered in an eerie mask with bright green eyes and purple spiked hair out the back. "Be careful of who you are speaking to Red Ninja. Gelder here is one of the Prides' most trusted lieutenants."

"And you remember, Right Hand of the Pride that we ninja," The Red Ninja growled. "We only agreed to join your crusade against Kingpin if you help us with our revenge."

"And the Pride will keep it's end of the bargain," The Pride member growled. "It's simple really. All we have to do is grab Mystique and use her and her unborn child to lure Zartan out into the open."

"We could get her ourselves," Another Red Ninja spoke.

"That would break the pact," The first Red Ninja spoke.

"It's not like we haven't broken it before," The second Red Ninja spoke.

"Yes, but at too high a price," The First Red Ninja told him.

"And therefore you need the Pride to take care of it," The Pride leader chuckled and shook his head. "Really, your pathetic oaths and…"

Ring! Ring!

"What now?" The Pride Leader took out his cell phone. "Excuse me." He walked away. "This better be good. I'm in a meeting. What about her? She **what?** They **what?** How much did they see? **WHAT?** YOU IDIOTS! HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN? I TOLD YOU YEARS AGO THAT WE SHOULD HAVE LEFT THEM ALL SOMEWHERE ELSE WITH A SITTER! DO NOT TELL **ME **TO CALM DOWN AFTER YOU MADE A MESS OF THIS!"

The Pride Leader growled. "Fine! You do that! I will be there by tomorrow and you'd have better have found them if you know what's good for you!" He shut off the phone.

"Trouble Boss?" Gelder asked.

"Some…Personal business has come up," The Pride Leader growled. "I need to return to LA immediately. Here," He took out some plans from a folder on a table. "Here's everything you need to know about the Pit and some suggestions for strategy. Gelder you're in charge of the operation until I get back." The Pride Leader left.

"Seems like something really big has gone down," Gelder spoke. He turned to the Red Ninjas. "Looks like you and I are working together."

"This is an outrage!" One Red Ninja shouted. "The Red Ninjas do not take orders from lackeys!"

"Then maybe the Pride don't think you're as important as you say you are," Gelder growled. "Don't worry, you'll get Mystique. Just leave it to me."

"Do not fail us," The Red Ninja growled as he and his companions disappeared into the shadows.

"Ninjas…Creep me out." Gelder grumbled as he left the room and soon found himself in his car. "Time to make a call."

Gelder then punched in a number on his cellphone. "Hello? It's me. I got some information here. Looks like something big has got the Pride shaking in their boots and they left me in charge of the operation to capture Mystique."

"Really?" The Kingpin grinned as he listened on the receiving end. "How unlike them. We must take advantage of this rare lapse in judgement. Now Gelder, tell me everything you know and what information on the Pit you have. If we're lucky we can get Mystique, the Pride and GI Joe in one fell swoop."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Yes, Jean this strain does show promise," Dr. Sterisin looked through the microscope. He was in his teaching lab with his star pupil. "You have good eyes."

"Thank you Doctor," Jean nodded. "Where did you get this particular mutated sample?"

"I have friends in high places," Dr. Sterisin told her. "They work on stem cell research mostly. I say Jean it's good of you to help me with my research."

"Well it's pretty understanding of you to incorporate your lab work with my classes," Jean said. "I'm learning so much."

"I just thought you would learn more coming to my lab twice a week and working with me than reading some boring textbooks three times a week in class," Dr. Sterisin told her. "And it's much more flexible considering your schedule. Jean is something wrong?"

Jean was rubbing her eyes. "I guess all the pressure is really getting to me," Jean confessed. "I mean working on my degree and my responsibilities with the X-Men are hard enough. But with all this hostility on campus…"

"They're still holding those awful demonstrations in the quad aren't they?" Dr. Sterisin sighed.

"That's the main reason why I decided to do this instead of coming to regular class," Jean admitted. "I'm just getting tired of people giving me dirty looks or trying to spit on me when I came to class. And it wasn't always the students."

"The stupidity of so called 'educated' people are truly astonishing sometimes," Dr. Sterisin growled. "We're not all fools here you know?"

"Yeah I really have to thank you Doctor," Jean said. "If it wasn't for you teaching me I don't know how I would have coped. Sometimes I felt like quitting."

"But instead you persevered and now you're actually ahead of your studies," Dr. Sterisin grinned.

"Again thanks to you," Jean said. "I mean half of this stuff I've mastered under your tutoring is so advanced. It's amazing."

"It's good to have an advisor in high places. You'll probably be able to get your doctorate in under two years instead of four or five," Dr. Sterisin grinned. "I mean as the new head of the Genetics department I've given you the credit for the work you've done here and at the Institute towards your degree. Which reminds me, I'm looking forward to formally meeting your friends."

"Yeah I know, I'm sorry to have to keep pushing it back," Jean sighed. "But with all the protestors and the media and everything…"

"It's all right Jean," Dr. Sterisin grinned. "I understand. When you're ready. I'll be there with bells on."

"Soon, I promise," Jean told him. "When things settle down a little more."

"Good," Dr. Sterisin agreed. "I'm looking forward to it."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Lance and Kitty stood on the gazebo overlooking the ocean at the Institute. "Man I keep forgetting how nice it is here sometimes. When everybody's not fighting that is."

"Hmmm…" Kitty thought.

"What's wrong?" Lance asked.

"I was just thinking," Kitty sighed. "About us and how so many things have changed since we first met."

"Like what?" Lance asked.

"Oh how we all used to be enemies and stuff," Kitty waved. "Now we're all friends."

"Depends on who you're talking about," Lance snickered. "I don't think Summers and I will **ever **be friends."

"Well at least you guys aren't tearing apart buildings every time you see each other," Kitty said.

"I can't help it, the guy gets on my nerves!" Lance said. "He's way too uptight for my tastes."

"God Lance just let it go will you?" Kitty said. "Everyone else here has pretty much let go of the past. Why can't you?"

"What do you mean by 'everyone else'?" Lance asked. "I know you definitely don't mean Pietro or Wanda."

"I'm just saying it wouldn't hurt if you acted more mature sometimes like…Well just try to get along with my friends more," Kitty said.

"You're doing it again," Lance growled.

"Doing what?"

"Comparing me to **him!"** Lance snapped. "You know how I hate that!"

"I didn't say anything about Peter!" Kitty snapped.

"You didn't have to," Lance told her. "I could hear it in your voice."

"Okay maybe I was a little," Kitty admitted. "But that's no excuse for you to fall back into your old patterns."

"My old patterns?" Lance looked at her. "What are you my psychiatrist or something?"

"You have a lot of problems Lance and I'm trying to be supportive," Kitty told him. "You have to admit you are not the easiest person to get along with."

"Kitty you gotta admit at least I'm **trying!"** Lance shouted. "Sometimes I don't think you'll **ever** be happy with me!"

"How can you say that?" Kitty asked. "I love you!"

Lance stopped. "You do?"

"Well I wouldn't put up with everything if I didn't!" Kitty told him.

"Why?" Lance asked. "Why do you love me?"

"You want to know why?" Kitty asked.

"I know it's a dumb question," Lance ran his hand through his hair. "But Kitty you gotta understand where I'm coming from. I've been used and hurt too many times and…Well you can't blame me if I tend to get a little possessive. I don't get too many good things in my life. When I do find someone I care about, I don't want to lose them. It hurts too much for me to be alone. Especially now that I've found you and the Misfits and everything."

"Lance…" Kitty said as he took her in his arms.

"Kitty, just promise me that you'll be patient with me okay?" Lance asked. "I love you and I'd do anything for you. You know that right?"

"And I love you too Lance," Kitty held onto him.

_I do love Lance…_Kitty thought as she hugged him. _So…I have to stop comparing him to Peter. It's the right thing to do. _

_Then why can't I stop thinking about Peter? _

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

In a secret meeting hall another group was plotting. In fact it was probably one of the most powerful groups on earth. The Jugglers.

"That concludes the budget," General Gold spoke to his fellow Jugglers. "Now we will continue with our discussion on how to handle the mutant question in this country."

"Never thought this would bite us in the butt like this," General White grumbled.

"The fact is gentlemen," General Silver spoke. "The Jugglers are probably more responsible than anyone for the expanding mutant population."

"You mean the **former **Jugglers," General Brown interrupted him. "I know my predecessor certainly caused enough damage! I can't believe that one of us was linked to Canada's Weapon X program!"

"Wouldn't surprise me if there are still others out there with ties to Weapon X or other super soldier programs," General Blue remarked. "Do you remember the Black Womb fiasco before we came to power?"

"Vividly," General Gold grumbled. "And out of all those children we only know the whereabouts of only **five **of them! And one of those five is a Misfit!"

"How much does he remember?" General Green asked.

"Nothing that could link the Jugglers to it if you are asking," General Gold said. "Ironically he did come up with some proof that the project was infiltrated by Magneto and Mystique."

"No wonder mutants are showing up all over the place now," General Blue grumbled.

"Whether we want to admit it or not," General Silver spoke. "We all know that mutants at the very least came from humans. Therefore handling the mutant question is our responsibility. And I do not want one of the solutions to be genocide, is that clear?"

"General Silver, the Jugglers may be a lot of things but one thing we are most of all are realists," General Green spoke. "Like it or not mutants are pretty much here to stay."

"And they are much too valuable to destroy," General Blue agreed.

"Hell the way things are going in twenty or so years they'll represent a major voting block," General Brown said. "We've already had to rely on 'em a few times to save the planet. Do you really think it's in our best interests to try and wipe 'em out?"

"That leads me to the Neverland Project that General Gold is responsible for…" General Silver spoke.

"I made it perfectly clear that the Neverland Project was **not** to be a concentration camp," General Gold told him. "There's no point in killing weaker mutants that are not a threat to us and the stronger mutants will only increase our military might."

"But will your subordinates listen to you?" General Blue asked. "Some generals have a habit of ignoring orders and going ahead with their own agenda."

"Like General Hawk?" General Green asked.

"At least when he does it, it's in the best interests of the country," General Blue grunted. "He's got initiative that one. He thought of reforming troubled mutants long before we did."

"Look I ordered the GRSO's activities to be limited in New York," General Gold said. "Too close to the X-Men and Hawk's attention for comfort. And I've gotten some good progress for Project Wideawake."

"I don't like it at all," General Silver said. "Machines are even less predicable than mutants. At least with mutants there's a chance to reason with them."

"I agree with Silver," General Blue said. "If Sentinels fall into the wrong hands it would mean the end of all of us! Not just mutants! Imagine what would happen if Cobra or any other organization got a hold of 'em?"

"Or worse, Magneto," General White said. "He could reprogram them to hunt normal humans instead."

"General Gold knows what he is doing," General Green. "Remember we all have our alliances. You cannot interfere with the GRSO Silver, just as we cannot interfere with your GI Joes and Misfits. Remember?"

"Wideawake is only a last resort," General Gold told him. "It will not be launched on a whim. Only when there is no other solution and the mutant population becomes out of control."

"They're already out of control!" General Green grumbled. "Like what happened a few days ago in Bayville?"

"To be fair, it was Hydra that caused most of the damage," General White told him. "That cover story we made up about Hydra wanting to destroy the town as an act of terrorism should keep the press at bay."

"Yes and now we have an actual Norse God running around to deal with," General Brown groaned. "As if mutants didn't give us **enough **headaches!"

"Don't worry, SHEILD is under my jurisdiction," General Black spoke. "Leave that to me."

"I'm still not sure about this," General Silver spoke. "I only hope Gold that your plan doesn't backfire on us all if it ever comes to pass."

"I hope it never comes to pass period," General Blue grumbled. "Because if it does…It could be the end of the world as we know it."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Why do I have to be the one to get the kids their sodas?" Cover Girl grumbled as she put the last set of cans into the jeep. She was at a convenience store at a town near the Pit. "Everyone else is chickening out and…"

"Don't move," A voice said behind her. Cover Girl felt a gun poke her in the back. "Just do what I say and nobody will get hurt."

"Well that's an original line," Cover Girl quipped. "Who are you and what exactly do you want?"

"I'm the brother of the girl you kidnapped into your little super soldier program," The man growled. "I'm going to break her out and you're going to help me."

**Things are getting good aren't they? Wait and see what happens next! **


	36. Family Reunions

**Family Reunions**

"I hope you have something better than a gun to carry this plan out," Cover Girl told her captor as she drove back to the Pit. "I mean you know you can't win with just that, right?"

"Just shut up and drive!" The young dark skinned man with a clean shaven face snapped. He was wearing a private's uniform.

"I'm just saying you obviously haven't thought this thing completely through," Cover Girl said calmly. "Okay you got the drop on me and you got that spare uniform from somewhere, but where do you go once we get in? That's what I want to know."

"That's not your problem," The man growled at her.

"Considering the circumstances, I think it is," Cover Girl remarked. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to clean blood out of a uniform?"

"You think this is funny?" The man snapped.

"I think it's **embarrassing **that's what it is," Cover Girl said. "The guys are never going to let me live this down I know it."

"Just drive," The man was clearly exasperated.

"So just why are you doing this?" Cover Girl asked. "Why are you risking getting blown to kingdom come?"

"I told you, to rescue my sister from your damn mutant detention facility," The Man growled. "I know you have her!"

"Okay…" Cover Girl said. "What's your sister's name?"

"Angelina Chakram," The man growled.

"You're Lina's brother? The attorney?" Cover Girl asked.

"Law student and how did you know?"

"Oh I know Lina," Cover Girl said. "She's fine by the way. She hasn't been harmed."

"Yeah well I'm busting her out before someone does harm her so don't try anything funny!" The man was careful to hide the gun as they drove inside the Pit. They passed the checkpoint. "Now which way is the holding facility?"

"Right this way," Cover Girl drove to the house. "Here we are."

"What is this?" The man looked confused.

"You wanted to know where the mutants were being held," Cover Girl said calmly.

"FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!" Pietro ran out at super speed. The Triplets flew behind him cackling insanely as they used a flamethower behind him.

"DON'T LET HIM GET AWAY!" Wanda ran out behind them. She hexed a few lawn chairs and they started whacking her brother.

"WANDA I SAID I WAS SORRY! OW!" Pietro whined.

"SORRY DOESN'T CUT IT DEAR BROTHER!" Wanda shouted. "NEXT TIME STAY OUT OF MY SHOE CLOSET!"

The man looked at Cover Girl. "What the hell…?"

"Did I forget to mention that this was a free range mutant holding facility?" Cover Girl said sweetly. "We like to keep our mutants in a natural environment so that they'd be free to cause as much destruction as they like."

"NO MORE SOCK PUPPETS!" Mystique ran out screaming, quite a feat for a pregnant woman. "NO MORE SOCK PUPPETS!"

"Come back! We still have four more acts of Desperate Housewives to do!" Todd bounded out with a sock puppet in each hand. Xi and Fred followed her around with their own puppets.

"Yeah I got a big love scene coming up!" Fred shouted. "And I do Eva Longoria's voice real good!"

Cover Girl's captor looked very nervous. He looked at her. Cover Girl remarked. "If I were you…I'd put the gun away now. It's not gonna help you. Trust me on this."

Trinity noticed something and flew over to her. "Hey Cover Girl, who's the new guy?"

"STAY BACK!" The frightened man held his gun out. "NOBODY MOVE!"

Everyone stopped and looked at Cover Girl. "What's going on?" Pietro stopped screaming.

"Apparently Cover Girl has been taken hostage," Xi remarked. Several of the Misfits started to snicker.

"Go ahead and laugh," Cover Girl groaned.

"What's so funny?" Althea asked. She and Angelica walked out. "Cover Girl?"

"I got captured," Cover Girl admitted.

"How could **you **get captured?" Althea folded her arms.

"Well apparently I did," Cover Girl told her.

"And you're telling **us **to be careful," Angelica shook her head.

"Who's telling what to be careful?" Spyder bounced out and saw the scene. "Who's that guy?"

"He's the guy holding Cover Girl hostage," Fred told her.

"Nobody move!" The man with the gun shouted.

"SPIRIT! SHIPWRECK!" Spyder immediately ran into the house and shouted. "COVER GIRL GOT TAKEN HOSTAGE BY A MAN WITH A GUN!"

"What?" Roadblock burst out with Spirit, Shipwreck and Lance. "What's going on here?"

"Oh this guy ambushed Cover Girl," Pietro waved. "And he wants to attack us for some reason."

"He wants to attack us?" Lance asked. "With a gun?"

"I know," Cover Girl shrugged. "Crazy isn't it?"

"You really didn't think this through did you?" Mystique crawled out from behind a bush. "Amateurs!"

"How could you be so stupid?" Shipwreck asked Cover Girl. "Even I know better than that!"

"Its true," Daria said. "He does."

"Well maybe if someone had come with me to get the sodas and helped me like I asked…" Cover Girl snapped.

"EXCUSE ME!" The intruder shouted. "Man with a gun here? Now I don't want any funny business or she gets it!"

"Okay so who wants to do this one?" Althea asked.

"Well I disarmed a guy at the last raid," Wanda said. "So Pietro you can take this one if you want."

"You were not the last one to disarm someone," Pietro told her. "I was the last person to disarm someone!"

"No, you weren't! Remember that security guard when we were at Glory's?" Wanda said.

"Yeah the fat one, I got him," Pietro said.

"Not him," Wanda said. "The one after him. The one with the bad combover."

"Yeah and then I got the guy with the broken bottle," Pietro said.

"It wasn't a broken bottle, it was a plastic bottle," Angelica said. "The guy was drinking bottled water. And he wasn't a guard, he was an accountant."

"Still counts," Pietro snuffed.

"No it doesn't," Todd said. "If the guy had a switchblade or a gun **then** it would count, but he didn't so…"

"WILL YOU TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!" The man with the gun shouted. "I HAVE A GUN HERE!"

"You and everyone else we meet," Todd remarked.

"Guys don't hurt him," Cover Girl said. "I think this is just a case of a major misunderstanding. You see he thinks this is some kind of prison camp and we're holding mutants hostage here."

"You **are **holding mutants hostage here!" Mystique shouted. "You think this collar I'm wearing is the latest fashion accessory?"

"You don't count!" Fred snapped.

"Yeah you're a terrorist that used to work for my Dad," Pietro said.

"So are you!" Mystique snapped.

"Technically we were more like hired thugs and guinea pigs," Todd told her.

"Of course," Mystique groaned. "None of you were **smart** enough to be terrorists!"

"That's right!" Fred looked pleased with himself. Then the smile faded. "Hey!"

"Look! This is ridiculous!" The Man shouted. "Now unless you want to see this woman dead, you're gonna…AGGGGH!" Suddenly something invisible grabbed his arm and before he knew it, the gun was torn out of his hands.

Xi reappeared holding the gun. He had taken advantage of the confusion to become invisible and sneak up behind him. "Well I haven't disarmed someone in a while…" He handed the gun to Fred who simply crushed it with his hands.

"Thanks," Cover Girl said before she kicked her attacker back into the arms of Shipwreck and Roadblock who restrained him. "Told you that you needed more than a gun."

"What's going on here?" Lina walked out of the building.

"Oh Cover Girl got herself taken hostage and it was up to me to rescue her," Shipwreck grinned.

"You mean Xi rescued her you idiot," Althea growled.

"Lina you know this guy?" Cover Girl asked.

"Lina?" The man asked then looked at her. "Lina?"

"Anwar?" Lina blinked as she got a good look at the intruder.

"Lina is that you?" The intruder gasped. Lina gave a cry and flew away. "LINA NO! DON'T GO!"

"Who is this guy?" Lance asked.

"He claims he's Lina's brother," Cover Girl explained.

"I'll go after her," Angelica said and flew after Lina.

"What did you bastards **do** to her?" Anwar shouted as he strained against his captors.

"We didn't do anything," Cover Girl told him. "Like I've been trying to tell you."

"Like hell you haven't!" Anwar shouted. "I suppose that look she has is makeup?"

"No that's just the way her mutation came out," Roadblock said. "Now will someone tell me what this is all about?"

"I came to rescue my sister that's what this is all about!" Anwar shouted. "Obviously you've been experimenting on her!"

"Pal you watch **way** too many movies," Shipwreck shook his head. "We don't torture mutants here."

"You torture **me!"** Mystique snapped.

"You deserve it!" Althea snapped back.

"Look lets talk this thing through calmly," Spirit said. "If you are Lina's brother and are truly concerned about her, why did you not try and contact her sooner?"

"I've been in Europe until recently," Anwar grudgingly spoke. "When I got home…My little sister told me that Lina…That my parents had thrown my sister in jail because she was a mutant."

"That's not exactly true," Cover Girl said. "Your parents disowned her and we took her in."

"So you don't hate Lina for being a mutant?" Todd asked.

"If I did would I try to break her out of here?" Anwar snapped.

"He's got a point," Pietro said.

"Look we take good care of Lina here. She's fine," Cover Girl said.

"You brainwashed her!" Anwar shouted.

"We did not brainwash her," Althea said.

"Oh yeah? Then why did she run from me?" Anwar shouted. "Explain that!"

"Your parents told her that you would lock her up if she ever contacted her family again," Cover Girl folded her arms. "Can you blame her for being scared of you?"

"They **what?"** Anwar gasped.

"It's the truth," Roadblock told him as he and Shipwreck let her go. "I think we'd better go inside and talk."

Twenty minutes later…

"And since that day she's had no contact with her family," Cover Girl finished explaining. "Until now."

"So **that's **what happened," Anwar sighed. "No one would tell me anything. And when I tracked her down, I thought the worst."

"Lina's been through a lot," Cover Girl said. "Try not to scare her, okay?"

"Scare her?"

"She's had…Problems adjusting to her mutation," Cover Girl said. "But she's much better now."

Angelica knocked on the door and peeked in. "I got her. She's ready to see him."

"Thanks Angelica," Cover Girl got up. "Look, just talk to your sister. Okay? You can bring her in now."

They left Lina and Anwar alone. "Hello…" Lina said nervously.

"Lina…" Anwar said. "What did they…?"

"They didn't do anything…I just…look like this now," Lina told him.

"You cut and dyed your hair," Anwar blinked.

"No, I just cut it," Lina told him. "It turned white on it's own."

"Oh…" Anwar said. "It looks…Nice."

"You're not just saying that?"

"No, no I'm not," Anwar shook his head. "Lina I came to rescue you. When I heard what our parents did…"

"Anwar I'm fine," Lina said. "I'm better than I've been in a long time."

"I didn't know what happened to you," Anwar said. "You have to believe me Sis, I thought you got my letters. I had no idea our parents burned them. And when I got back…And then I found out…"

"I can imagine," Lina sighed. "They didn't take it well."

"I just couldn't just forget you," Anwar held her hand. "The things that were going through my head. I thought you were locked up someplace and being experimented on."

"They're not using me for experiments," Lina assured him. "Actually…I'm in training to become a medic."

"A medic?" Anwar was surprised.

"Anwar so much has happened since I last saw you…" Lina sighed.

"Tell me from the beginning," Anwar said. And she did.

Meanwhile the Misfits were waiting in the living room. "I can't believe Lina's brother showed up after all this time," Lance shook his head.

"You don't think he'll try to take Lina away do you?" Fred asked.

"No, I think he was just worried about his sister," Cover Girl told him. "Besides I'm still legally her guardian."

"Well at least we now know her brother isn't half the jerk their parents are," Angelica said. "I mean if he was willing to take Cover Girl hostage…"

"I am never going to hear the end of this am I?" Cover Girl groaned.

Meanwhile back in the room, Lina was explaining things to her brother.

"So the woman I took hostage is your foster mother?" Anwar groaned.

"You got it," Lina nodded. "It was sweet of you to want to rescue me."

"You don't have to stay here if you don't want to," Anwar said. "I could always go to the courts and…"

"Anwar, no that's not what I want," Lina stopped him. "Believe it or not I'm happy here. The Misfits treat me like family. I feel accepted and useful here. And I know being under the supervision of GI Joe no one will hurt me here."

"Still won't stop me worrying about you," Anwar shook his head.

"Listen," Lina sighed. "There's a chance that either Rika or Maren could be mutants too when they get older. Someone has to stay and watch out for them in case that happens. That's why you can't tell our parents you found me."

"I hate to say this, but you're right," Anwar sighed. "You're really okay aren't you?"

"I'm fine," Lina said. "Why don't you stay for dinner? You can meet my new friends."

"Uh, don't you think Cover Girl will mind? I mean I did hold her hostage."

"Yes but she knows you didn't really mean it," Lina told him, taking his arm.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"So Lina's been reunited with her brother huh?" Kitty spoke on the phone the following day. "That's great Lance. Oh nothing much with me. But Jubilee's Aunt Hope showed up this morning and they've been together talking all day. Well according to what I heard this aunt had a serious fallout with the family a long time ago and she's been overseas with her business. She seems a bit prim and proper but she's really nice. Get this; she's even invited a bunch of us to stay over her place in California during the summer! Well she said she couldn't stay long today because she had to go back to Hong Kong to take care of business. I dunno, I think she said her company does a lot of hostile takeovers or something. And get this, she has her own limo driver here. He's totally hot and…Lance! I'm just saying! Lance! I didn't mean it like that!"

Meanwhile downstairs in the foyer Xavier, Jubilee and Ororo were talking with a middle aged Chinese woman with glasses, short hair, and brown business dress. "I really must thank you for all that you've done for Jubilation, Mr. Xavier," She spoke. "She's certainly flourished under your care."

"Jubilee is a remarkable young woman Ms. Lee," Ororo said.

"Ororo…" Jubilee blushed. "Come on…"

"I just feel awful that I wasn't there for you when you needed me the most," Hope Lee sighed.

"Come on Aunt Hope it's not like you knew or anything," Jubilee said. "My dad was kind of hard headed."

"He was the type to always carry a grudge," Hope sighed.

"What was the cause of the fight anyway?" Jubilee asked.

"He simply did not approve of my career choices," Hope said. "Thought I should have gone a more…traditional route."

"Yeah well he freaked when he found out I was a mutant," Jubilee sighed.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Hope sighed. "Some people can be so…intolerant it makes my blood boil."

"That's what this Institute is for," Xavier explained. "A haven for young people who find the outside world difficult to adjust to."

"If that's not a worthy cause I don't know what is," Hope said. "From what I've seen this place does not deserve even a quarter of the slander it gets in the papers. It must be expensive to run a place like this."

"We do have enough funds to keep things going," Xavier grinned. "I am independently wealthy."

"As am I Mr. Xavier," Hope told him. "And I want to make a donation."

"That's not necessary," Ororo said.

"I know it isn't," Hope said as she took out her checkbook. "But I insist. It's the very least I can do for all that you've done for my niece."

"Aunt Hope you don't have to…" Jubilee's eyes widened as she saw what her aunt was writing. "Is that a comma or a period?"

"Comma," Hope said calmly. She handed Xavier the check.

"Ms. Lee I can't just…" Xavier raised an eyebrow. "This is really too generous!"

"Nonsense," Hope sniffed. "I've worked very hard for what I have and this is but a mere fraction of my fortune. I want you to have it. You deserve it."

"Well…" Ororo was taken aback. "I suppose we could use it for repairs. We always do seem to need them."

A tall blond man wearing a driver's uniform walked in with Logan. "Ms. Lee you told me to remind you when that meeting was to take place."

"Is it One O'clock already?" Hope sighed as she looked at her watch. Thank you Brad. Well Jubilee, I suppose I should be leaving now. Thank you so very much for lunch."

"Thank you for…" Xavier blinked at the check. "Your support."

"Goodbye Aunt Hope," Jubilee hugged. "I hope I get to see you this summer."

"I'm looking forward to it," Hope hugged back. "And bring all the friends you like. My house is too big and empty as it is. It will be nice to have some young people around for a change."

"Famous last words," Logan grunted as Hope and her driver left. "What was all that about a visit?"

"She wants me to visit her in California this summer and bring some friends," Jubilee said. "So can I go, pretty please? Please?"

"I didn't sense any malice in her," Xavier said. "I see no problem with a brief visit."

"Well…Okay…" Logan grunted.

"Thanks Wolvie! You're the best!" Jubilee kissed him on the cheek and ran off. "I gotta tell everyone!"

"That was very nice of you Logan," Ororo grinned.

"I just hope the Firecracker doesn't invite the entire mansion," Logan groaned. "That poor woman has no idea what she's getting herself into."

Meanwhile Brad was driving Hope around Bayville. "I'm so glad Jubilee has found a nice, reasonably safe place to live," Hope sighed. "I don't have to worry about her safety."

"Speaking of safety, we have company," Brad told her. "It seems more of Ang's men followed us." He pulled out a gun from his glove compartment. "You think they would have learned their lesson after the gunfight at the airport in Hong Kong?"

"Hmmm…" Hope looked at the black cars following them in the rear view mirror.

"Good thing I programmed a map of Bayville into limo," Brad said. "We can lure them into a trap."

"I was hoping we wouldn't have to do business in town today," Hope sighed as she pulled out a nine-millimeter rifle out of the car. "Some people are just too impatient."

**Huh? What's with Aunt Hope and the guns here? Is there more to her than meets the eye? And speaking of deranged family reunions what happens when you get Mystique, Zartan, and henchmen from the Pride, the Kingpin and Red Ninjas together? You got it. Trouble! **


	37. Another Family Fiasco

**Another Family Fiasco**

The next day the X-Men were eating breakfast and watching the television in the kitchen. "Our top story: A violent shooting spree ends with five men dead in downtown Bayville," The news anchor spoke. "Trish Tilby is on the scene."

There was a scene of a crime as Trish stood there. "Yesterday downtown Bayville erupted in violence. When it was over, five men believed to have connections with a global crime syndicate were dead. Although the police have no leads, there is evidence that this was probably the work of several other members of a rival gang."

"Wow, a mob hit right here in Bayville," Jamie whistled. "Cool."

"That is **not** cool!" Jubilee snapped. "Geeze Jamie you're really becoming a warped kid."

"Any surprise after hanging out in **this** place?" Tim asked her.

"Whoa," Bobby looked at the crime scene. "They really trashed the place."

"At least they can't blame **that **on mutants," Logan told her. "We're not connected to it so it's not our problem!"

"Well there's a mature attitude," Hank smirked. "You're saying because it's not a mutant problem we shouldn't get involved?"

"Hank we can't run out and start blowing stuff out every time something happens in our backyard," Logan said. "The cops are already ticked off at us. Why look for trouble?"

"I hate to say it but I gotta agree with Logan on this one," Rogue said. She saw Kurt walking in carrying something. "What have you got there, Kurt?"

"I got a baby blanket for Mystique," Kurt showed her. "A little gift for the baby. It's blue, see? Wanda is picking me up so I can visit her."

"It matches your fur," Bobby said.

"You should come visit her too, Rogue," Kurt said. "No matter what else she's done, she is our mother."

"That's the only reason I haven't killed her," Rogue told him. "And don't say I don't mean that because you know damn well I do. That witch ruins everything she touches. Just let me know when our brother's born."

"Rogue…" Kurt pleaded.

"Elf, I know you wanna place peacemaker, but that ain't gonna happen in this lifetime," Logan said.

"Doesn't anybody else think that we should at least try to make peace with Mystique?" Kurt asked.

"No!" Everyone else said sharply.

"I'm still bloody miffed at her impersonating me," Betsy growled. "So I'm with Rogue on this one."

"Technically she didn't impersonate you," Jubilee pointed out. "Just used your appearance."

"Just as bad," Betsy grunted. "I still feel used."

"Join the club," Rogue slammed down her book. "Wise up Kurt, that's all she's ever done is use people. And if you ain't careful, she'll end up using you again!" She stormed out.

Kurt sighed and teleported out. "That is one depressed elf," Bobby remarked.

"Is it just me or is there way too much drama around here?" Jubilee grumbled.

"Never a dull moment, that's for sure," Everett remarked.

"Backstabbing parents, family secrets, gods running amok, celebrities getting trashed, mob hits and Hydra assassins running around," Tim chucked as he ate a donut. "And to think I didn't want to come here at first. This place just gets better and better every day."

"Yeah, well if you ask me Rogue is totally right about this one," Ray said. "With all the stuff that witch has pulled I'm amazed somebody hasn't knocked her off long ago."

"Mystique has more lives than an alley cat," Sam nodded.

"And fewer morals than one," Wanda said as she walked in with Jean. "Where's Kurt?"

"He's somewhere around here," Ray said.

"Well **that's** certainly helpful," Wanda folded her arms.

"He and Rogue kind of had a little spat," Jubilee told her. "He was like all 'let's forgive Mystique' and…"

"And Rogue didn't want any part of it," Wanda guessed the rest. "Let me talk to him."

"I sense him in his room," Jean told her. "Do you want me to come with you?"

"No, I'll take care of it," Wanda waved as she went off. She knocked on the door and opened it. Kurt was sitting on the balcony. "Hey."

"I'm ready to go," Kurt sighed.

"Hold up a second," Wanda held up her hand. "I wanna talk to you. I heard you had a few words with Rogue."

"And I suppose you're on Rogue's side?"

"Well to be honest, I can see where Rogue is coming from, more than anyone else," Wanda told him. "You remember the things my father did to me and how Pietro was always annoying me about him? I just couldn't get past what he did to me and the more Pietro talked about it, the more I dwelt on it. The more Pietro pushed the madder I got until I couldn't take it anymore. And I blew up, literally. And you know what happens when I lose my temper. Do you see where I'm going with this?"

"Ya," Kurt sighed. "What you're saying is that the harder I try to push Rogue and Mystique together all it will do is bring the two of us apart. I get it."

"Just…Give her space okay?" Wanda said. "She just needs time to think and to let her wounds heal some more."

"Is that how you and Pietro solved your differences?"

"Actually we settled it when my brother learned to hate our father as much as I do," Wanda told him. "Ironically it's brought us closer. We even spend hours plotting different ways to make him suffer. It's very therapeutic."

"Why do I keep listening to the Misfits when I want advice?" Kurt moaned. "It only makes my head hurt more. Why do I do it?"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!" Barney shouted as he bopped Mystique on the head repeatedly with a whiffle bat. He was sitting on her shoulders.

"SOMEBODY GET THIS KID OFF ME!" Mystique screamed. "OW! AND GET THIS OTHER BRAT OFF MY LEG!"

"Claudie…No," Todd pulled Claudius away from Mystique's sore leg. "You'll get rabies or something."

"Hey guys," Wanda walked in with Kurt. "It's visiting day. Time for some wonderful family bonding."

"GET THIS KID OFF MY HEAD BEFORE I HURT HIM!" Mystique screamed as Barney pulled on her hair.

"Come on you," Wanda took Barney off. "Playtime's over. Come on guys let's give 'em some privacy."

"Why bother?" Todd asked as they left. "We can hear her screaming from outside."

Soon Kurt and Mystique were alone. "Hello Kurt," Mystique sighed as she slumped into a chair. "Come to see me suffer?"

"No, I came to see how you were doing," Kurt told her. "And to give you this." He handed her the baby blanket. "For the baby. So how are you doing?"

"I am retaining more water than Hoover Dam and Kirstie Alley looks like a supermodel compared to me! How do you **think **I feel? Plus I'm trapped in a house full of Misfits who take delight in tormenting me every chance they get!" Mystique snapped. "Trust me you have never known true insanity until you have been forced to watch a two hour sock puppet version of Desperate Housewives!"

"It could be worse…" Kurt remarked. "It could be a puppet version of Stacked or Life on a Stick."

"They did that last night." Mystique groaned. "They called it Stacked Life on a Stick. Although even I have to admit the Blob does a pretty good Pamela Anderson. Oh god I hate my life! I hate being pregnant! And most of all I **hate** the Misfits!"

"Mother please…" Kurt sighed. "You have to let go of this anger inside of you. I mean look at where it's gotten you. You should be looking at this as a chance to do some good with your life."

"That's the problem with you Kurt," Mystique said. "You're just as bad as Xavier. Neither of you will face up to the fact that people, human beings in particular are just not very nice. It's just the way the world is and its not going to change. Only the strong survive and the weak are used and discarded."

"And don't you get tired of that?" Kurt asked.

"I get even more tired of people who think they can change the world when it's so bloody obvious it can't be changed," Mystique told him. "If it were truly possible the world would have changed by now. Rogue may hate me for it, but at least I was able to teach that lesson to her. She may pretend to deny it all she wants, but deep down she knows it's the truth. Now if only you could learn that…"

"I don't understand you Mystique," Kurt said. "I've tried but I really don't understand you at all."

"Kurt you of all people should know how hard life is for a mutant, especially ones that look like us," Mystique told him. "I wasn't able to shapeshift until I was a teenager, and even then…" She stopped. "At the very least you were able to find a family that loved you. That's more than I ever had."

"Your parents didn't love you?" Kurt asked.

"What do you think?" Mystique asked. "My father was…A bad man. Very bad and my mother was indifferent. That's all I'm going to tell you about them because the rest isn't even worth mentioning. I guess that does explain my parenting skills, or lack thereof." She took a deep breath. "Oooh…"

"Are you all right?" Kurt asked.

"Kid just gave me a devil of a kick…" She muttered. "I don't feel so well."

Just then Lifeline walked in. "What's going on?"

"Lifeline! Mystique isn't feeling well," Kurt told him.

Lifeline walked up and looked at her. "I need you to take us all to the Pit's infirmary! Now!"

"All right," Kurt grabbed onto them and teleported them to the Pit's infirmary. "Wait don't the Misfits have an infirmary in their…" He looked and saw an unconscious Lifeline and Bree on the floor. He turned around and was quickly knocked out.

"That went easier than I thought," The impostor said in his real voice.

"Where the hell have you been?" Mystique snapped. "Do you have any idea what I have had to endure because of you?"

"Shut up!" Zartan pulled off his latex mask. "I came for you didn't I?"

"Not soon enough!" Mystique snapped. "Get this collar off me and get me out of here!"

"I have a spare key in my pants," Zartan told her as he took out his weapon. "You know the way."

"I'm having a little trouble bending down in case you haven't noticed!" Mystique shot back.

"Believe me I could notice you from the top of the Empire State building," Zartan grabbed the key and gave it to her.

"This changes nothing by the way," Mystique snapped as she freed herself from the collar. "I'm still going to divorce you. Once I figure out if our marriage is legal."

"Yeah, yeah I got it," Zartan snapped as he gave her a weapon. "I didn't come here for **you **anyway!"

"Of course, you couldn't **bear **to leave your heir to your swamp behind," Mystique told him.  
"Just hurry up and change so we can get out of here already!" Zartan growled as he grabbed the Lifeline mask again.

"Uhhh…I can't…" Mystique groaned.

"What do you mean you **can't?"** Zartan stopped putting his mask on and looked at her.

"Look you try using your powers after having an eight pound bowling ball stuffed into your stomach, for a few months!" Mystique snapped. "I'm too tired. Plus I can't change my baby's shape anyway."

"Great! Just great!" Zartan threw up his hands. "Well can't you just change your skin and hair color anyway?"

"Oh **that's **a good idea," Mystique said sarcastically. "I could change into Cover Girl or Scarlet and hope no one notices that either one of them has gained **twenty pounds** in one day!"

"You're right," Zartan grumbled. "If it was the Baroness we'd have no problems. Fine, we'll have to go to plan B."

"Which is?"

"Blow up everything in sight on our way out," Zartan told her as he put the Lifeline mask back on.

"Oh what a well thought idea **that is!"** Mystique snapped.

"Well you're not exactly being little Miss Helpful are you?" Zartan told her as he grabbed a wheelchair.

"**Me?** You're the one that **knocked me up!"** Mystique shouted. "It's your fault that I'm in this condition in the first place!"

"And **I'm **the one who forgot to take a birth control pill?" Zartan glared at her.

"**You're** the one whose condom broke!" Mystique glared back. "And you plied me with all that wine!"

"Will you stop shouting?" Zartan snapped.

"I am **not **shouting! **You **are shouting!" Mystique shot back.

"Fine! I'm shouting! I'm shouting! **I'm shouting!"** Zartan shouted. "Now get in the damn wheelchair and act like a patient!" He grabbed a blanket. "Put this over you to hide your neck and the gun. You can say you're cold."

"Really? I thought it was for an impression of Franklin Delanor Roosevelt!" Mystique got in the wheelchair and adjusted the blanket.

"If you don't start being a tad more cooperative you will **end **up like him! **Dead!"** He took the handles and started to wheel her out. He locked the door behind him. "Now just act natural until we get to the aircraft hanger."

"Take the hallway to the left," Mystique told him.

"Is it a shortcut?" Zartan asked.

"No there's a bathroom over there…" Mystique winced.

"Oh for crying out loud…" Zartan moaned.

"Hey! I've got at least ten pounds sitting right on top of my bladder squishing it like a pancake!" Mystique growled as they made their way to the bathroom. "I need to go!"

"For the love of…" Zartan rolled his eyes. "Whoever heard of taking a bathroom break during a rescue operation?"

"If you don't want any **accidents **you'd better let me go!" Mystique hissed.

"Hurry up," He held the door open to let her in. "Mystique don't take your time!"

"It'll take as long as it takes!" Mystique managed to get out of the chair and went inside. "Don't rush me!" She slammed the door on him.

"Don't rush me she says," Zartan fumed. "I risk my neck to bust **her** out and **she **doesn't want to be rushed! Fine! The next time I rescue you I'll bring a port a john! Would **that **be more convenient for you?"

"Just shut up and keep a lookout!" Mystique hissed as she finished her business.

"Uh…Mystique…" Zartan gulped. "Are you almost done in there?"

"Give me a minute!" Mystique snapped.

"Could you hurry it up? It's kind of important…" Zartan told her in a sing song voice.

"Just wait okay! I'm done!" Mystique snapped as she poked her head out the door. "What is your…problem…?"

The two of them were surrounded by several ninjas in red that had swords drawn. "Oh boy…" Mystique gulped.

"You just **had** to take a bathroom break didn't you?" Zartan asked her.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The sound of someone playing the drums very loudly in his ear was the first thing that assaulted Kurt when he started to regain consciousness. "Ugh…" He struggled to sit up and rubbed his head. "What happened?"

"Dunno…" Lifeline moaned. "I kind of lost track after Zartan snuck up on us."

Kurt then remembered something. "Zartan? Wait then I **did **see…Oh no!" He teleported outside. That was when he quickly learned that the drumming was actually the Dreadnoks assaulting the Pit with some high powered choppers and an army of BATS.

"Yikes!" Kurt shouted as he dodged bullets and lasers. He ran straight into a group of ninjas clad in red and barely dodged their swords. "This is not good! Not good!"

Eventually he made his way to a bunker. In the bunker were Todd, Fred, Duke, Roadblock and Lance repelling wave after wave of BATS.

"Oh **there** you are," Fred said sarcastically. "We were wondering what happened to you."

"What's going on?" Kurt asked. "What's with the ninjas and the BATS?"

"Long story short, Zartan's trying to break Mystique out," Todd told him. "But he's kind of got competition."

"One minute we got an alert that we were under attack. The next thing we know there's a squad of Red Ninjas crawling all over the place," Duke said. "I don't know how Zartan and Mystique got out of the bathroom they were cornered in but they made a mess of things."

"How did they get to that bathroom in the first place?" Roadblock grumbled as he shot a few more rounds. "Last I checked Mystique was in the house!"

"I'm afraid I had something to do with that…" Kurt winced. "I thought Zartan was Lifeline and…"

"Never mind!" Duke shouted. A burst of gunfire rang out. "Let's deal with these guys first!"

"I thought the Red Ninjas wouldn't come to the Pit?" Kurt asked.

"They probaby changed their minds about honoring their pact," Roadblock told him. "Figures!"

"Okay why are **they** firing at the **ninjas?"** Fred asked as he watched the ninjas and the BATS go at it. "Aren't they on the same side?"

"I would say by the looks of things…No," Lance told him. "Hey! Mystique and Zartan are getting into that chopper over there!"

"And the Red Ninjas are following them," Fred added the commentary. "And the people in the chopper are shooting at the Red Ninjas. And now the chopper is taking off but it's shooting at the Dreadnoks too!"

"Thank you for the commentary, Blob!" Duke snapped. "Kurt can you teleport into that chopper and grab Mystique?"

"It's too late!" Kurt pointed to the chopper as it was zooming off. "It's going too fast and out of my range!"

"After 'em!" Zarana shouted as the Dreadnoks fired at the getaway chopper.

"Red Ninjas! We have been betrayed!" One of them screamed. Suddenly he threw down a smoke bomb. Before anyone could react, there was smoke everywhere.

"Oh this is **just **what we need!" Shipwreck said sarcastically. "Anybody see anything!"

"Snake! I stepped on a snake!" Todd shouted.

"OW! THAT'S MY TAIL!" Kurt snapped.

"Oh, sorry," Todd apologized. The smoke cleared leaving wrecked bats and destroyed vehicles. "Man this place is trashed."

"Fury's gonna have our heads for this," Duke grumbled.

"Yeah like **his **base has never been trashed," Lance told him.

"Where'd the ninjas go?" Kurt asked.

"Gone, big surprise," Duke grumbled. "They always disappear like that after a fight."

"I dunno who took Zartan and Mystique but something tells me those two didn't plan this," Shipwreck grumbled.

"We're going after them aren't we?" Todd asked.

"You bet your bippy we are," Roadblock reloaded his weapon.

**Next: Mystique and Zartan find themselves in hot water and it's gonna get hotter when even more characters get thrown into the mix! **


	38. Pawns of the Kingpin

**Pawns of the Kingpin**

"Get in the chopper, you said," Mystique folded her arms as she sat on a bunk bed in the corner of the cell. "I've made arrangements, you said. It'll be easy, you said! WHEN THE HELL AM I GOING TO LEARN **NOT** TO LISTEN TO **YOU**?"

"Well how the hell was I supposed to know that someone else besides the Red Ninjas wanted to capture us!" Zartan shouted.

"Hello! I'm one of the world's most notorious mutant terrorists!" Mystique whirled around and snapped at him. "Who **wouldn't** be after me?"

"Actually I needed to acquire the **both **of you," The Kingpin walked up to the cell door. It was a clear cell with a mutant power dampening equipment as well as a force field for a door.

"I know you," Zartan narrowed his eyes. "You're Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin. Cobra's got a dossier on you a mile long."

"And I have an entire **wing** of my personal files devoted to Cobra," Kingpin told him. "I must admit, the two of you have done some very impressive work over the years."

"So why do you want us?" Mystique asked.

"I thought it was pretty obvious my dear," Kingpin spoke. "I am going to use the two of you to acquire the services of the Red Ninjas once and for all. Once they are under my employ it will prove to the Hellfire Club that I am worthy of becoming a member."

"That's what this is all about?" Zartan scoffed. "So you can be part of some fancy high society club full of dorks?"

"That fancy high society club of dorks is filled with some of the most powerful mutants on earth," Mystique told him.

"It's a shame I have to sacrifice someone so intelligent and talented," Kingpin sighed as he looked at Mystique. "But sacrifices must be made."

"Wonderful," Mystique rolled her eyes. "He's going to use **us** as membership dues."

"I'd make yourself comfortable if I were you," Kingpin told them as he walked away. "You're not leaving for quite a while."

"Well isn't this just great!" Mystique threw up her arms. "Once again you screw up my life! Thanks a lot **Darling!"**

"Calm down," Zartan told her. "I've been out of a lot worse spots than this and I wager so have you. We just need to put our heads together and think of a plan."

"Yes, and that's worked **wonders **for us in the past," Mystique grunted.

"Kingpin mentioned the Hellfire Club," Zartan thought. "Aren't we acquainted with the White Queen, Emma Frost?"

"Yes, but something tells me that rescuing us isn't exactly the top of her priorities list," Mystique said. "We're dead!"

"Don't count us out yet," Zartan told her. "Remember my family and the Dreadnoks are out there."

"**That's **what I'm worried about," Mystique groaned.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Who would do this?" Kurt wondered aloud. He was back at the Institute. The Misfits and X-Men were in the control room of the mansion. "Why would they kidnap my mother?"

"You got a couple of hours?" Todd grumbled under his breath.

"Don't worry Kurt," Rogue took his hand with her gloved one. "We'll find her. Any luck on Cerebro, Professor?"

"None, I'm afraid," Xavier shook his head. "It's possible that whoever abducted them has sensors that are capable of blocking Cerebro. Or they simply haven't used their powers yet."

"Or are unable to," Shipwreck frowned.

"Well I got some good news. We know who kidnapped Zartan and Mystique," Hawk walked in. "You'll never believe it."

"Who is it? The Kingpin?" Fred asked.

"Okay maybe you will believe it," Hawk sighed.

"Seriously?" Kurt gasped. "But why? What does he want with them?"

"According to my sources the Kingpin's been trying to acquire the services of the Red Ninjas ever since they broke off from Cobra for years," Hawk told him. "And since the Red Ninjas have a thing about killing off Zartan and all his male relatives…"

"No…" Kurt shrunk back in his seat.

"Kingpin's gonna hand them over to the Red Ninjas isn't he?" Rogue asked.

"Well he certainly didn't take 'em so they could play a game of Monopoly," Logan growled.

"It gets worse," Hawk said. "Rumor has it the Pride has also been courting the Red Ninjas for an alliance."

"The Pride and the Kingpin are waging a war against each other," Scott put his hand to his head. "This is bad."

"And you know the Pride isn't gonna just sit back and let the Kingpin grab any more power," Lance folded his arms.

"That's three groups of people that wanna kill Mystique besides us," Todd looked at Kurt. "Boy Fuzzy, your mom sure knows how to make friends."

"They're going to kill them aren't they?" Kurt asked, his eyes widened.

"Most likely yes, if they're not already dead," Hawk said honestly. "But don't give up hope. We were able to call in some connections. If they're alive, we'll find them."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Are you sure that's what happened?" One of the Members of the Pride asked. Their 12 faces were hidden in shadows on the screen of the computer.

"Positive," The Red Ninja nodded. "One of your own has betrayed you to the Kingpin. The Kingpin hopes that if he hands over Zartan and his mate to us, we will follow him. That is why he told us where they were and why he took them."

"So why don't you?" Another member of the Pryde asked. "I thought that was what you wanted most of all?"

"This is about honor," The Red Ninja told them. "We are not mercenaries that sell our services to the highest bidder. That would make us no better than Zartan and his ilk. We made our pact with you, and despite this…setback of yours we still intend to honor it."

"True it wasn't our fault Gelder betrayed us," Another member of the Pride grumbled. "I always thought he was an opportunistic parasite."

"We know of the Pride's reputation for honoring its promises," The Red Ninja spoke. "And of your pact with the Gibborim."

"How could you know of **that?"** One of the Pride shouted.

"They're ninjas Hayes," Another Pride member spoke. "Of course they'd know about something like that. Let me guess, you want to be saved along with us instead of being destroyed with the rest of the planet?"

"It is the more logical is it not?" The Red Ninja asked. "This way we will preserve our traditions and our skills through eternity."

"Fine, then we'll send you some back up," The Lead Pride said. "Unfortunately we are in the middle of some…delicate operations here. Tell Kingpin you want them alive until you meet them. Try to stall him until tomorrow night."

"It is a full moon," The Red Ninja grinned inwardly. "A perfect pretext."

"Pull some Ninja hocus pocus huh?" Another Pride nodded. "Fine, contact us when you set up the meeting. We'll send someone there. The Pride out." He shut off the communicator. The twelve people, six men and six women looked at each other.

"We so do **not** have time for this!" Hayes snarled. "As if we didn't have enough to worry about with the Rite of Thunder coming up! Our own children are running wild trying to take us down!"

The leader of the Pride, Geoffrey Wilder sighed. He rubbed his dark hand over his bald head. "It is quite the inconvenience isn't it? We've spent nearly twenty five years preparing for the end of the world and in less than twenty five days it all could be for nothing."

"And the real kick in the pants is that we did it all for our ungrateful brats who turned against us," Gene Hayes grunted.

"They're children Gene," Catherine Wilder glared at him. "They had no idea what the Rite of Blood was for. To be honest if I didn't know the importance of what they saw I would have probably done the same thing."

Geoffrey thought a moment. In the beginning none of them would think it was possible that they would be able to reshape the world. One minute he and his new wife were escaping the police after their first bank robbery together, the next they were transported to a secret chamber with several other unusual couples.

Geoffrey and Catherine Wilder, the thieves.

Dale and Stacy Yorkes, the time travelers.

Gene and Alice Hayes, the mutants.

Victor and Janet Stein, the scientists.

Robert and Tina Minoru, the magicians.

Frank and Leslie Dean…The actors…As well as aliens from another planet.

But that was another story.

They had been given powers and skills beyond belief by an ancient race of giants called the Gibborim. In return once a year they would sacrifice a young girl's soul for twenty-five years. At the end of the twenty-five years on the final Rite of Thunder, the Gibborim would be able to reclaim dominion of the world and destroy humanity with the exception of six of the Pride. As their children were born and grew it was decided among them that their children would inherit their places and rule the planet in their stead.

However at the last Rite of Blood something went terribly wrong.

It had been decided that the children would grow up knowing nothing about their future until they were ready. However somehow they made their way to the secret passage hidden inside the Wilder's house and saw the ritual sacrifice.

The next thing they knew the children fled and had not only managed to discover their own supernatural powers or gifts, but they had taken some rather powerful weapons as well as a very well trained dinosaur with sharp pointed teeth.

To say the parents wanted to get their children back under their control was the understatement of the year.

"What I'm impressed with is the Red Ninjas," Dale Yorkes folded his arms. "They could have just gone with the Kingpin but they chose to ally themselves with us."

"To save their own bloody skins is more like it," His wife Stacy grumbled.

"Too bad they don't know that the pact only applies to six of us," Victor Stein spoke. "Or ironically our children."

"I see no need to inform them of that," Robert Minoru folded his arms.

"As do I. Gene you and Leslie will go to New York and take care of this," Geoffrey said. "The rest of us will track down our errant children."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Meanwhile in an alley slum in New York City…

"You've been a busy boy Gelder…" A tall man clad in a black outfit with a skull on his chest growled as he pointed a very large gun at Gelder's head. "Switched allegiances with the Pride to the Kingpin. Which makes me wonder what exactly he's up to."

"I ain't telling you nothing…" Gelder squealed.

"Uh, uh…" The man grabbed his throat. "As my old English teacher used to say, never use a double negative. Gelder, you know who I am. I'm the Punisher. My job is to protect the innocent from toxic scum like you by blowingyou guysaway into tiny little pieces. So unless you can give me the location of some bigger scum…" He started to squeeze his neck. He stopped and cocked his ear. "Or maybe your friend can tell me where he is."

"Actually I'm **not** with him," Bill spoke as he slid out of the shadows. "But I have a few questions to ask him myself if you don't mind."

"You're a popular man Gelder," The Punisher growled. He looked at Bill. "Now what is he to you?"

"The same thing he is to you, a low life to get information from," Bill growled back as he unsheathed his sword. "I need to know something about the Kingpin."

"Who doesn't?" Gelder moaned.

"He's holding two people hostage," Bill said. "They're not exactly innocent, but their unborn baby is. I've been asked by a friend to track them down and save the kid."

"I see…" The Punisher frowned. He glared at Gelder. "Well?" He cocked the gun.

"He…He's going to use them to get both the Red Ninjas and the Hellfire Club in his pocket," Gelder whimpered.

"Who the hell are the Red Ninjas?" Punisher asked.

"Friends of mine, we bump into each other when I don't go bowling," Bill retorted. "So where are Zartan and Mystique?"

"With…With the Kingpin…" Gelder gulped.

"I kind of figured that but **where** is the Kingpin?" Bill asked.

"I…I don't know where they are now!" Gelder whimpered.

"Now? That implies you do know where they **were**, or **will** be," The Punisher cocked his weapon again. "Which is it?"

Bill drew his sword and pointed it at Gelder's throat. "Okay you can either be shot or chopped into pieces and **then **shot or…"

"The Fyskov Financial Center!" Gelder shouted. "He…He's meeting with the Red Ninjas there at 11 PM! Top floor!"

"See, that wasn't so difficult now was it?" Bill pulled his sword away from Gelder's throat.

"And now that you've told me what I wanted to know," The Punisher said. "You can die in one piece."

"I can't allow that," Another voice said. They both looked up. A man clad in a red devil costume stood above them on top of the building.

"Oh great **another **one…" The Punisher grumbled. "What is it about nights in New York that seem to bring out all the nuts?"

"Says the man with the skull on his chest," Bill pointed out. "Okay so we don't kill him. I've gotten what I wanted. Who cares?"

"The man is scum. He dies," The Punisher said as he pointed his weapon at Gelder.

"Nobody dies on my watch," The man in the devil costume growled as he slung his baton at a seemingly superhuman speed, knocking it out of his hand. The Punisher managed to grab another gun and start shooting. As the devil man dodged it, Gelder saw his chance to escape. Unfortunately, Bill was ready for him.

"Sorry Charlie," Bill threw a small device which changed into a net, capturing Gelder. "I think you should stick around for a while. At least until the cops get here."

"Fat chance of that happening in **this** neighborhood," The Punisher snarled as he kept shooting at the man in the devil suit.

"I've heard about you Punisher," Bill said. "As much as I admire your attitude of let's blow up every crook in sight and let God sort it out, I kind of have to draw the line at blowing up any nut in a costume. Some of my best friends are nuts in costumes."

Before the Punisher knew what hit him, Bill sliced his gun in half. "I'm a ninja pal," Bill grinned. "Guns don't scare me."

"I don't have time for this," The Punisher grunted and fled into the night. "I have the Kingpin to deal with."

"And people think **I'm **obsessed," Bill grunted. "Don't bother using that baton on me, Horn Head. I have no intention of fighting you."

"I can't just let a vigilante like you go free," The man said.

"Oh and I take it what you're wearing is the latest fashion for police detectives?" Bill said sarcastically. "I've heard about you too. Daredevil right?"

"Yes, I didn't catch your name," Daredevil folded his arms.

"Didn't throw it," Bill said. "But it's Bill."

"Bill?" Daredevil asked. "A ninja named Bill?"

"Sorry it's not as catchy as yours or the Punisher but it works for me," Bill told him. "Look I want the Kingpin's hostages. You want the Kingpin. So why don't we work together and take 'em down? Unless you have a tea dance you wanna go to?"

"I work alone," Daredevil said. "However…I can't stop you if you really want to tag along."

"I thought you'd never ask," Bill grinned.

**In case you haven't figured it out, I've become a big Runaways fan. You'll see more of them later! Billy's back and he's got some friends to play with. Oh boy. This is gonna be wild! **


	39. One Wild Night

**One Wild Night**

"Of all the freaking times for your sisters to have a peanut butter, marshmallow fluff and coffee war!" Rogue swore as the team of Misfits and X-Men prepared for battle. "All we had to do is teleport a couple of us to where Zartan and Mystique are being held, grab 'em and get out. But nooooooo! **Your sisters** had to act like the uncontrollable loons they are and wreck the Mass Device!"

"Don't look at me! **I'm** not the one who created the mess in the first place!" Althea snapped. She glared at her father. "You just **had **to get them riled up didn't you?"

"All I did was ask them who they thought was the best American Idol," Shipwreck looked at her. "How was I supposed to know they would take it so seriously?"

"Because they're nuts that's why!" Althea snapped at him.

"They take after their father," Ororo grumbled.

"We'll just have to do it the hard way," Scott interrupted. "Go ahead Wolverine."

"All right, Team One," Logan called out. "Nightcrawler, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Rogue and Spirit: Your job is simple, get Mystique and Zartan the hell out of there. Team Two will take the route on the West Side of the building with me. That's Cyclops, Iceman, X23, Avalanche, Blob, Shipwreck, Roadblock and Low Light. Team Three will take the less direct route…"

"Meaning climbing up the East Side of the building," Todd groaned. "While everybody else takes the elevator."

"Wavedancer, Toad, Xi, Jean and Firestar…" Logan continued. "Storm you provide outside cover and wait for backup with Dragonfly, Arcade, Cover Girl, Lifeline, Jubilee and Boom Boom with the vans." He pointed to the two vans the teams had ridden in.

"Aw man that stinks," Tabitha grumbled. "We have to wait in the van while the rest of you see all the action? No fair!"

"Yeah maybe one of us should join team three?" Jubilee said. "I mean they don't have that many people."

"That's 'cause we kind of added a few people at the last minute," Todd pointed his thumb over his shoulder.

Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow and Bill appeared out of the shadows. "Considering the circumstances I think it would be beneficial if a few ninjas were involved in this," Storm Shadow remarked.

"You just wanna slice up Zartan don't you?" Lance raised an eyebrow.

"Who **doesn't** wanna slice up Zartan?" Bill remarked.

"Oh goody," Logan groaned. "Mr. Happy is back. Well I guess three extra people can't hurt."

"Four actually," Bill motioned as Daredevil appeared from the shadows. "I brought a new friend. Calls himself Daredevil."

"I've heard of you," Jean said. "You've made a career of tangling with the Kingpin."

"Someone has to protect the innocent," Daredevil shrugged. "Besides I know Kingpin. He's bound to pull a few tricks."

"Yeah and something tells me there might be a few more that nobody knows about," Bill added.

"What, Spider Man was out of town?" Logan folded his arms. "Storm make with the fog. We don't want to cause any unnecessary attention."

Unfortunately that did not go according to plan.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Cor blimey, where'd this fog come from?" Buzzer scratched his head.

"Shut up and pay attention!" Destro snapped. "Against my better judgement Cobra Commander has decided to rescue Zartan and Mystique. Now listen up. Dreadnoks take the South stairwell and go up to where they are being held. My Iron Grenadiers will come in from the North from the air using these Trouble Bubbles." He pointed to some bubble like vehicles with jets and lasers on them. "Any questions?"

"Yeah can we use our motorcycles to ride up the stairs?" Torch revved his up. "That's always fun!"

"Fine, whatever…" Destro winced in agony. "Just don't rev them up too much in the halls! You'll give away our position!"

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Meanwhile up top in the highest room of the building the Kingpin and a few of his henchmen were having a meeting. In the middle tied up were Mystique and Zartan. On the other side of the room were several Red Ninjas, several Pride henchmen and the two Pride leaders ready to attack. "So the Red Ninjas decided to double cross me," Kingpin sighed. "Why am I not surprised by this turn of events?"

"You tried to double cross us," Hayes told him, he was wearing a brown and black ninja like outfit.

"The Red Ninjas do not take kindly to any form of betrayal," The lead Red Ninja said. "We deem you unworthy of our services."

"To be quite honest I don't really care about acquiring your services any more," Kingpin sniffed. "I have much more important goals."

"You mean the Hellfire Club?" Hayes folded his arms. "Like they'd accept a fat flatscan like you!"

"I don't see **you** getting any invitations," Kingpin growled. "Which means you're not as superior as you think you are."

"Beware Kingpin," Dean hissed, creating a rainbow colored wave from her hand. "Even without the Red Ninjas the Pride is more than formidable to deal with you."

"You're not the only ones with superpowers at his disposal," Kingpin snapped his fingers. Out of a hidden door some surprising faces showed up. "I take it you're familiar with my associates: Rhino, Bullseye, Scorpion, Dr. Octopus and…" He looked at a young, bald, beefy man with four arms. "Steve."

**"Steve?"** Hayes blinked.

"He's very new and he hasn't acquired a suitable pseudonym yet," Kingpin explained. "But he's shown a lot of promise and enthusiasm."

"Can we beat 'em up now boss?" Steve asked.

"Not yet, Steve…" Kingpin told him.

"Red Ninjas, take down the traitor and his mate!" One Red Ninja hissed. The Red Ninjas readied their weapons as well as the Pride's henchmen.

"You gotta go through us first," Rhino growled. The Kingpin's Henchmen tensed and readied to fight.

"It seems we have a bit of a stalemate here," Kingpin raised his eyebrow.

"Indeed," Dean raised her hand staving off the Pride's army. "A direct confrontation would be…unsuitable."

"Let's be logical about this…" The Kingpin sighed. "I want in the Hellfire Club, you want the Red Ninja and we **all **want these two dead. Surely we can come to **some** agreement?"

"We could all shoot 'em at the same time," One of Kingpin's henchmen suggested.

"Steve has a point," Dr. Octopus said.

"I have no problem with it," Hayes shrugged. "Red Ninjas?"

"Well it lacks the formality of a ritualistic sacrifice but it will have to do," The lead Red Ninja agreed.

"Uh wait a second here," Zartan gulped. "Maybe we can make a deal? I don't suppose we could buy our way out could we?"

"Yeah, they'll buy **that,"** Mystique groaned. "Spineless twit. So much for a last minute rescue!"

Just then something happened. Kurt teleported between the two groups. "Hello!" Kurt waved weakly. "Goodbye!" He grabbed Zartan and Mystique and teleported off with them.

At that very moment, all Hell broke loose. For at the exact same time as the two combined teams of X-Men, Joes, Misfits and Daredevil broke in from the West and the East, the Cobras broke in from the North and the South. Needless to say it did not take long for everyone to start fighting with each other. It was complete pandemonium.

"Daredevil…" The Kingpin growled. "Of course **you **would show up to ruin this night!"

"Sure, single **me** out," Daredevil quipped as he kicked Bullseye.

Kurt had teleported Mystique and Zartan to the hallway. "Talk about cutting it close…" Zartan grumbled.

"Note it was **my** son and not **your **family that saved us!" Mystique told him. "Kurt untie us!"

The sound of revving motorcycles startled her. The Dreadnoks on their choppers tore at them. Panicking, Kurt teleported them back into the middle of the fray. "Why the hell did you bring us back **here?"** Zartan snapped as he ducked behind a table.

"Don't worry, I'll teleport you to safe…" Kurt began before a flying henchman hit him and knocked him out.

"So much for **that **plan," Rogue groaned as she flew over and started protecting Kurt, Mystique and Zartan. "You two are more trouble than you're worth you know that?"

"Shut up and help us out here!" Zartan tried to use an overturned table for cover.

The fight was fierce. Logan had just sliced off a few henchmen's weapons when suddenly he was pushed to the side by a bright rainbow colored blast. "What the…"

"Feel the wrath of the Pride, animal…" Dean hissed. Then she was blasted into a wall herself by Wanda's hex blast. "You'll pay for that!"

"What does it take to make you dead you red horned freak?" Bullseye screamed as he tossed several knives at Daredevil.

"Says the guy with a target on his back," Scott shot at him, knocking him down.

"Thanks for the assist," Daredevil flipped over Scott's head and knocked down a Red Ninja trying to attack Scott from behind. "Now we're even."

"Hold still you little…" Dr. Octopus hissed as he tried to catch Todd with his arms. Todd nimbly avoided him and then slimed him in the face. "AGGGH! THAT IS DISGUSTING YOU LITTLE…"

"This is nuts!" Scott shouted as he kept blasting. He noticed Jean was having trouble. "Jean…?"

"One of the Pride's a telepath!" Jean grunted as she countered with a mental assault of her own. "And a very good one!"

"So much for a nice clean rescue," Rogue grunted as she finished making a small barrier made of tables. Behind it she looked at Mystique, Zartan, the unconscious Kurt, and Lance who had a minor cut on his right arm. "You okay?"

"Yeah, nothing big…" Lance grunted. "Man its like a who's who of crazy people out there! It can't possibly get any worse!"

That was when the glass ceiling shattered and a huge helicopter lowered down. "It's time to pay the price!" The Punisher shouted as he started shooting from a machine gun. Everyone scattered and tried to avoid the gunfire.

"Who's **this** guy?" Rogue shouted.

"I haven't a clue," Mystique groaned. "Zartan?"

"Beats me," Zartan shrugged.

"He's called the Punisher," Bill told them as he jumped out of the fray for a moment. "A real nutcase whose idea of fighting crime is blowing criminals up."

"BURN IN HELL FAT MAN!" The Punisher shouted as he blasted away.

"I was so hoping we'd get this done before **he **showed up," Bill grumbled.

"You mean you **knew** this lunatic was going to be here?" Scott shouted as he and Todd tumbled into the small bunker.

"Yeah," Bill shrugged. "I didn't want you to worry."

"Thanks a lot!" Scott groaned before he blasted another weapon out of a henchman's hand.

"WHAT IS THIS? A FREAKING CONVENTION?" The Kingpin shouted. "WHO **ELSE **IS GOING TO SHOW UP TONIGHT? SPIDER MAN?"

"Well since you asked so nicely…" A familiar figure swung through one of the open windows and used his webbing to take out a few of the Kingpin's men.

"I **had** to ask…" Kingpin closed his eyes and winced.

"Spiderman! What are **you** doing here?" Todd cried out.

"I could see the explosions from across the city," Spiderman told him as he landed next to them. "And you know how much I love to crash a party. Quite a little gathering you got here."

"Yeah," Todd winced as Ororo fried the helicopter and forced the Punisher to jump from it. "A real blast!"

"Jean!" Scott shouted.

"I got it!" Jean blasted Hayes then used her telekinesis to throw the helicopter high into the sky where it exploded. As parts of destroyed helicopter rained down she told them. "Don't worry, there was no one else aboard."

"Oh good that mean's it'll be just us who will be killed!" Todd shielded his head.

Jean put up a shield to stop the debris from falling, but that didn't stop anyone else from fighting. Including Mystique who had gotten free of her constraints and was now strangling Zartan. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! I WANT A DIVORCE! YOU HEAR ME!"

"This is better than a kung fu movie," Spiderman watched the action.

"Okay **who** is fighting **who **now?" Fred asked as he backed into someone. "I'm confused."

"Apparently the X-Men, GI Joe, Daredevil and the Misfits are fighting myself, the Pride, The Red Ninjas, The Dreadnoks and Cobra," Kingpin told him, too busy fighting to realize who he had backed into. "And vice versa. Also the Red Ninjas and the Pride are trying to take **me** out as well. So I have to take **them **out first! Mystique is throttling Zartan. The Punisher is fighting **anyone **who moves and Spiderman seems to be just sitting around and…Wait a minute…" He looked behind him and saw Fred. "Oh no…"

"Thanks!" Fred said cheerfully before punching him square in the jaw. The Kingpin sailed across the room. "That's all I wanted to know. And knowing is…"

"SHUT UP AND FIGHT!" Bill snapped as he ran by him with his sword drawn.

"I dunno who to clobber first…" Rhino snorted. Then some webbing hit his face. "HEY!"

"You know this **is** fun!" Spider Man jumped into the fray. "Uh oh, Doc Oc at twelve O'clock!"

"COME BACK HERE AND FIGHT YOU WALL CRAWLING…" Dr. Octopus shouted before some acid hit one of his tentacles and dissolved part of it. "AGGH! YOU IDIOT!"

"Sorry!" The Scorpion said. "I was aiming for the wall crawler! My tail slipped!"

"Yes, well one of my **remaining tentacles** tends to slip!" Dr. Octopus shouted as he sent a tentacle out and hit Scorpion.

Scorpion backed into Rhino who was trying to take off the webbing. "Outta my way shrimp!" Rhino shoved Scorpion hard.

"Don't call me names!" Scorpion shot acid at both Rhino and Dr. Octopus. Both took it personally and forgot about Spider Man to brawl with each other in the middle of the larger brawl.

"IMBACILES! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO FIGHT **EACH OTHER!"** Kingpin shouted. "YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO FIGHT…" He looked at the chaos. "YOU KNOW WHAT, GO AHEAD! FIGHT EACH OTHER! BLOW EACH OTHER TO KINGDOM COME FOR ALL I CARE! I AM **OUT** OF HERE!" He fled the room with several of his loyal henchmen covering him.

"He's getting away!" Hayes shouted.

"Let him," Dean told him. "We have more important things to deal with back home. Besides, he'll be dead soon enough anyway!"

"Yeah, seems pointless considering we have an Armageddon to prepare for," Hayes grunted. "RED NINJAS! PRIDE! FALL OUT! RETREAT!"

"No! We will not leave until Zartan and his devil spawn are dead!" The Lead Red Ninja snapped.

"Fine! See if I care!" Hayes hissed. "I have neither the time nor the patience to deal with you!" The Pride started to retreat.

Meanwhile Zartan escaped from Mystique and ran out into the fighting. He jumped on Buzzer's motorcycle. "GET ME OUT OF HERE!"

"Cobra! Retreat!" Destro shouted as the Cobras left.  
"He did it again…" Mystique said. "The bastard left me behind **again!" **

"Ohhh…" Kurt moaned as he regained consciousness. "What hit me this time?"

"This is starting to become a problem for you Elf," Todd told him. "Just get Mystique out of here and we'll blow this joint!"

"Yeah before we get blown up!" Rogue shouted. Kurt grabbed her hand as well as Mystique's and soon they were in the van.

"What the hell is going on up there?" Tabitha shouted as they materialized. The top of the building seemed to be on fire and police cars were clearly on the way.

"We ran into a few friends," Kurt grumbled.

"Where's Zartan?" Cover Girl asked.

"Don't know, don't care…" Mystique grunted. "SELFISH BASTARD!"

"He dumped you again so he could save his own hide huh?" Cover Girl looked at her.

"Yes!" Mystique hissed. "We need to get out of here before the…" She looked out the van window and saw several red figures with swords approaching. "Red Ninjas show up…"

"Oh great!" Cover Girl groaned as she opened fire. Arcade had laser beams gauntlets and used them. Jubilee and Tabitha used their powers as well but they barely slowed the ninjas down.

Suddenly large hailstones rained on the Red Ninjas! "Yeah! Go Storm!" Tabitha shouted. The others quickly made their way to the battle.

The next thing Kurt knew several Misfits jumped into the van with Logan. There was a furious exchange of personnel when suddenly Logan grabbed the steering wheel and took off. "The others are covering our escape!" Logan told them. In the van were Lifeline, Kurt, Mystique, Todd, Fred, Rogue, Lina, Pietro, Wanda, Lance and Jean.

"This is insanity!" Mystique clung for dear life.

"I feel like a canned squash," Todd grumbled.

"Get your foot out of my ear!" Pietro snapped.

"I can't believe we all made it," Lance groaned. "Or nobody was killed!"

"The night's not over yet," Wanda said. "Somehow a lot of those Ninjas are following us!" She pointed to the motorcycles behind them. "So much for a diversion!"

"I hope the others are okay," Rogue said.

"They'll be fine. All we have to worry about are a few dozen Red Ninjas on our tail," Logan grunted as he drove. "Other than that, no problems."

"Actually we have one more little problem…" Mystique grunted. "My water just broke. I'm in labor…"

"Great…" Logan rolled his eyes. "Just freaking great!"

**Next: The big moment has arrived! **


	40. The Stork Has Landed

**The Stork Has Landed**

"Are you sure it's coming?" Pietro gasped.

"Trust me! OW!" Mystique grunted. "It's coming!"

"Oh man she's leaking all over the place!" Todd winced. "We gotta do something! I don't know nothing about birthing no babies!"

"Are you sure the Red Ninjas are behind us?" Lance asked.

"I can sense their thoughts," Jean told him.

"And I can smell 'em," Logan grunted.

"I see one!" Lina pointed. "See that flash of red over there! That's them!"

"Ooooohhh!" Mystique moaned in agony.

"Can't you like…hold it in until we shake these guys?" Lance winced. To this Mystique answered with a scream.

"I think that's a **no**, Lance!" Rogue said sarcastically.

"Do something!" Mystique shouted. "The baby's coming!"

"We know! We know!" Todd said. He looked out the window. "We've been driving for half an hour now and these guys are still chasing us! Are we near Bayville yet?"

"Just got in the city limits!" Logan said. "We can try to take her to the mansion but I don't think we'll make it!"

"And even if we do, the Red Ninjas will just follow us there," Rogue said. "Do you think the defenses are enough to keep 'em out?"

"To be honest…" Logan sighed. "I wouldn't count on it."

"This is not happening," Kurt looked pale. "This can't be happening!"

"Well it is!" Mystique snapped. "I AM GOING TO KILL ZARTAN FOR THIS!"

"We gotta lose these guys somehow and think of something fast!" Lina shouted. "This isn't exactly the ideal place to have a baby!"

"This isn't an ideal place for a cockroach to have a baby," Logan grumbled. "But what choice do we have?"

"I got an idea!" Todd called out. "Nightcrawler, can you reprogram your holowatch?'

"Ya, why?" Kurt asked.

"We need a decoy!" Todd said. "I got a plan…"

"**You **have a plan?" Lance looked at him. "Somebody else think of something quick!"

"I'd think of something but I'm kind of distracted here by the agonizing pain!" Mystique snarled. "OWWWWWW!"

"What's wrong with my plans?" Todd snapped.

"You have a few hours?" Wanda snapped at him.

"WELL I DON'T SO DO SOMETHING!" Mystique screamed.

"I don't think we have a choice on this one," Jean said. "Like it or not, Toad may be our only hope."

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Logan groaned.

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Meanwhile the Red Ninjas were following at a safe distance and watched what was going on. "They've split up," One ninja said. "Wait, the Wolverine has taken Mystique away from the others. They're taking off on foot while the van is leaving. It's another diversion."

"Forget the others, it's the blue witch we want," The Lead Red Ninja told him. "Follow them!"

They followed the two to an empty warehouse. The ninjas burst inside and cornered them. "Looks like we have a party on our hands…" Logan shot out his claws.

"Die!" The Lead Red Ninja shouted as he threw several shuriken at Mystique. She didn't move and the shuriken…bounced harmlessly off her belly.

"What the…?" The Lead Red Ninja blinked before Mystique punched him hard in the face, knocking him out.

"It's not nice to hit a lady," 'Mystique' twittered. Then 'she' proceeded to clobber any Red Ninja in sight. The ninjas fought back but they were stunned when their weapons broke on contact with the blue woman. Then one of them managed to hit her wrist with his sword.

Which broke the holowatch revealing Fred. "Eek!" Fred gasped then punched the ninja in the face. He grabbed another ninja and threw him against the wall. "I think they figured out I'm not Mystique!"

"Yeah but you certainly had them fooled," Logan said as he knocked another ninja out. Soon the remaining ninjas ran off, leaving several ninjas unconscious. "Especially in the girth department."

"Five, six, seven, eight…" Fred counted the ninjas left behind. "Ten, twelve…Boy they don't make ninjas like they used to huh?"

"I don't believe this," Logan shook his head. "For once the Toad had a good idea."

"Now what do we do?" Fred asked.

"We call Fury and get him to pick up these jokers," Logan picked up his cell phone. "Then we'll regroup with the others and pick up Mystique."

"Fine," Fred lifted one ninja up. "I just hope these guys don't think like Toad."

"The chances of **that** are pretty slim," Logan grunted.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"This is my worst nightmare come true!" Mystique howled in agony. "I'm giving birth…IN TOAD'S OLD ROOM!"

There they were, back at the old Brotherhood Boarding House. "Good plan Toad," Lifeline said. "Having Nightcrawler teleport Mystique and me here while Blob and Wolverine distracted the ninjas."

"I figured the old Hood House would be the last place those Ninjas would look," Todd shrugged.

"I just hope those ninjas didn't follow us when we got here," Lance grumbled.

"That's why we picked this room," Cover Girl said. "Gives us the best place to defend ourselves."

"Not to mention the cleanest, which is impossible to believe…" Wanda looked around. "Is that sock moving?"

"Well after Toad…When we thought Toad was dead we cleaned it out and nobody took it," Pietro said. "And if you recall we all kind of left in a hurry after Lance totaled the school."

"When are people ever going to forget that one little mistake?" Lance groaned. Everyone looked at him. "Okay two mistakes. I trashed two schools! Well three if you count…"

"Never mind…" Rogue held up her hand.

"I'm amazed this dump is still standing," Pietro looked around.

"Even the swamp would have been better than this…" Mystique moaned.

"Well we couldn't bring you back to the mansion," Lance told her. "That's the first place the Red Ninjas would look!"

"And the hospitals are out for so many reasons," Pietro said. "Bad food, lousy security, those rotten hospital gowns…"

"Not to mention the fact that a lot of them may not admit a mutant patient," Wanda grunted. "I think that sock **is** moving. At least I hope it's a sock."

"I dunno," Todd scratched his head. "I don't remember having any that color."

"AGGGGHHHHH!" Mystique screamed.

"I think I'll go wait outside…" Lance looked very pale and left in a hurry.

"Yeah I think there's too many people here for this," Pietro zoomed out.

"Lina, Jean I need the two of you here to help me," Lifeline said. "The rest of you can…"

"No! Rogue! Please! Stay here!" Mystique screamed in panic.

**"What?"** Rogue gasped. "You seriously want **me**, to stay here with **you?** Now? No way!"

"Please Rogue! I can't do this alone again…" Mystique whimpered.

"What's wrong with Kurt? Why can't **he **stay for this?" Rogue asked.

"I think I see the head," Lina said.

"What?" Kurt made the mistake of looking over. He went pale and then fainted. "Oooooohhhh…"

"Ooh! Right on the sock," Todd winced.

"At least he killed it," Wanda said. "I mean it's stopped moving."

"Never mind! I see your point!" Rogue moaned as she put her gloved hand into Mystique's. "I am so going to regret this! Toad get him outta here!"

"Okey dokey," Todd picked Kurt up and they went out with the others.

Not long later Kurt regained consciousness. He found himself on the old Brotherhood couch. "What happened?"

"You passed out," Todd told him as he drew on the wall with an old crayon. "Man I wish our old TV was still here."

"Arcade and Cover Girl are outside scouting the perimeter," Lance told him. "Just in case we get a sneak attack."

"By the way you didn't kill the sock or whatever it was you fell on," Wanda told him as she sat in a chair filing her nails.

"That thing that was moving? I landed on it?" Kurt yelped.

"Yeah it crawled into a hole real fast so we couldn't figure out what it was," Todd said.

"Oh man I think I got some slime on my back…" Kurt winced as he checked himself out. "Wait! The baby? Is it…?"

"Well we heard some crying a few minutes ago," Pietro said. "Course that could have been Mystique."

"Hey…" Rogue walked down with a wrappedbundle in her arms. "Kurt I got someone for you to meet."

"All right!" Todd said cheerfully. "What color is he?"

"Toad! That's not exactly the first question you ask about a baby," Rogue snapped as she handed the baby to Kurt.

"In this case you gotta admit he has a point," Lance told her.

"Hey there little guy," Kurt gulped. "I'm your big brother."

"Let me see him," Todd peered over everyone's shoulders. "Hey he's pink! Well not pink, pink, but regular new baby pink. Which means…"

"He takes after his father," Rogue folded her arms. "For once that's a good thing. No offense Kurt but…"

"None taken," Kurt sighed. "It will be easier for him in the long run if he doesn't look like a mutant."

"Well he's gonna be a shapeshifter so looks aren't gonna matter much anyway," Pietro remarked.

Just then Cover Girl walked in with Storm Shadow and Logan. "Looks like everything went okay after all."

"I told you my plan would work," Todd grinned.

"I guess miracles **do** happen," Lance smirked. Todd stuck his tongue at him.

"Mystique you have to get back into bed!" Lifeline called out. Mystique ignored him and weakly wobbled downstairs, wearing a bathrobe.

"I'm fine!" Mystique snarled. "I mean this isn't exactly the first baby I've had you know?"

"Mystique you shouldn't be up so soon," Jean came down with her.

"Listen Grey," Mystique sighed. "I'm a shapeshifter. I may not be completely healed but my powers allow me to reset my internal organs back to where they were before I got pregnant."

"I thought you powers were…" Wanda began.

"I couldn't transform most of my body while I was carrying the baby but I could still do some things," Mystique said. "Believe me, they came in handy at the last second when I delivered. That's all I'm going to say."

"Now that you've delivered we can continue to phase two of the plan," Storm Shadow said.

"What do you mean? What plan?" Kurt asked. "Mystique what are you up to now?"

"Storm Shadow and I came up with a plan to save your brother's life," Mystique said.

"It's risky but it just might work," Storm Shadow said. "But we have to do this now while the package is ready."

"Do **what** now?" Kurt asked. "What package? I don't understand?"

"Kurt…The Red Ninjas…They're not going to stop until your brother is dead," Mystique looked at him. "There's only one way out of this. You're going to have to trust me."


	41. The Hardest Choice

**The Hardest Choice**

"How could this have happened?" One Red Ninja hissed. "Not only do we get humiliated by the Kingpin and the Pride and…Everyone **else **at that fiasco! But several of our best warriors have been imprisoned! Including Aioshi!" Several Red Ninjas were hiding in an abandoned warehouse.

"I knew we should have joined the Hand years ago…" Another Red Ninja grumbled. "At least **they** get results!"

"And that would have resulted in our deaths!" Another Red Ninja snapped. "They have been the enemies of our clan for centuries."

"**What** clan?" A lone voice hissed from the shadows. "You turned your backs on our clan years ago!" Storm Shadow appeared with Mystique behind him, carrying a bundle. "And when you did have a chance to return to the Arashikage as I did you refused!"

"And crawl back on like a dog as you did?" One Red Ninja hissed as he drew his sword. "We are the only true Arashikage! We followed you in hopes to restore our honor but you even failed **that!** You became soft and weak!"

Before anyone could react Storm Shadow slashed the sword from the Red Ninjas' hand and kicked him to the wall. "**You **find **me** weak?" Storm Shadow hissed as he pointed his sword to his throat. "Pathetic!"

Other Red Ninjas drew out their swords but one raised his hand, staying them. "Storm Shadow, we once followed you to the service of Cobra and even allowed ourselves to be Cobra's pawns in order to avenge our master."

"For all the good that it did," Another ninja snarled. "Since Cobra was responsible all along for the death of our master and they still roam free!"

Storm Shadow turned to them. "I admit I have failed you and am no longer worthy to be your leader. However it is not I who have broken the pact! You swore an **oath **not to invade the Pit!"

"And allow the witch and her devil spawn to live?" Another ninja shouted. "Why do we not kill them now?"

"**This **is why!" Mystique unwrapped the bundle and threw it on the ground. It was the body of a blue infant.

The Red Ninjas said nothing as they stared at the body. "It seems that your revenge is partially completed," Storm Shadow told them.

"Take a good look," Mystique hissed. "He's dead. Stillborn. And Zartan couldn't care less about me. There's no reason for you to hunt me anymore. To be honest, I hope I get the bastard before you do."

"How do we know that that…abomination is the son of you and Zartan?" One ninja asked.

"Are you color blind or something?" Mystique hissed.

"It does look like her," One ninja remarked.

Storm Shadow threw a disk at him. "This DNA profile proves that this was the intended offspring. Her child is dead. Leave the woman be. If you have a shred of honor left you will do this. If not…" Storm Shadow drew his sword. "I will avenge her myself. Do you really wish to challenge me?"

The Red Ninjas were silent. "This changes **nothing** between us," One Red Ninja spoke. "But it is pointless to go after the female. Do with her as you will."

"Leave Bayville…" Storm Shadow hissed. "Now. And never return."

"We will cross swords again, former Master," The Red Ninja spoke. "But not today." The Red Ninjas departed into the night.

Mystique leaned against the wall. "That was close…" She breathed a sigh of relief. "You must have been some leader for them to back off like that."

"I trained many of them myself," Storm Shadow grunted. He looked at the 'body' of the infant, which started to turn into jelly. "That synthetic material certainly worked. In a moment it will become nothing but dust."

"Gotta love synthoids," Mystique watched it disintegrate. "Brilliant idea to use my son's actual DNA to make them think he's dead."

"To the world he must be," Storm Shadow said. "If he is to survive."

"Sure, fine. Not like I haven't lost a child before," Mystique grunted. "What's one more? That's **it**. No more kids. I'm going to get my tubes tied or something."

"The something can be arranged," Storm Shadow glared at her. "You still have much to answer for."

"Could you spare me the intimidation right now?" Mystique slumped and sat down. "I have had a very stressful and a very exhausting night to say the least. Even with my advanced shapechanging abilities I'm still not fully functional. I'm not going anywhere."

And that's when the roof exploded. Or that was what it seemed like. The next thing Mystique knew the whole world had opened up and exploded around her in raining debris. The blackness of oblivion never looked so welcoming. The next sensation she could understand was softness below her. She was on a bed somewhere and it was very comfortable. And then it came to her that she didn't put herself there. That someone else had put her on the bed. Someone she probably didn't know.

"Kidnapped twice in two days…" Mystique moaned as she put her hand to her head. "Must be a new record."

"More like liberated my dear," A chuckling Mastermind was the first thing she saw.

"Don't you my dear me you telepathic twerp…" She groaned and fell back on the bed. "What the hell does Magneto want with me now?"

"Actually Mystique," Blackjack walked in with Mesmero. "We were kind of hoping that you would join our little cause…"

"What cause?" Mystique opened her eyes and saw Mesmero. "YOU!"

"We meet again," Mesmero said.

"If I wasn't so damn exhausted I'd turn myself into a giant snake and choke the life out of you," She growled. "What the hell am I doing here? Wherever **here** is and how did I get here?"

"We have our resources," Blackjack said. "And you…Are in the secret vaults of the Hellfire Club."

"Let me cut to the chase," Mastermind said. "How would you like revenge on Magneto, the X-Men, The Misfits, GI Joe and…Well, everyone else?"

"Excluding myself of course," Mesmero added.

"And how do you geniuses plan to accomplish this?" Mystique asked.

"We have a plan," Blackjack said.

"People like us always do," Mystique retorted. "And why the hell should I join whatever scheme you have up your sleeves? The last time I joined forces with **him,** I was nearly turned into a statue and became a zombie of Apocalypse!"

"Yes but this time we can get you a better position," Blackjack said. "Seriously, what else are you going to do, Mystique? Go crawling back to Magneto when he obviously doesn't give a damn if you live or die? That your **loving** husband would sooner shove you off a cliff than rescue you? Go to Cobra and hope that they're rehiring former dictator impersonators? The X-Men? The Misfits? Oh yeah, they'll help **you!" **

"I see your point!" Mystique snapped. "So what do you want me to do?"

"Right now, I need you to rest," Blackjack said. "You're no good to anyone right now. We're gonna need your powers at their peak if we're going to take over the Inner Circle and set the entire world on fire. Literally."

Mystique raised an eyebrow. "This should be interesting…"

"Oh it is," Blackjack grinned. "You have no **idea **how interesting things are going to get."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Do we really have to do this?" Kurt's voice was shaking. "So soon?"

"It has to be like this Kurt," Scott said softly. "Be grateful Trinity fixed the Mass Device in time." Kurt, Rogue, Xavier, Althea and Scott were on a secluded beach somewhere in Hawaii. Kurt was holding his brother wrapped in a blanket as dawn broke over the horizon.

A jeep rolled up. Driving it was Sheriff Lobo and inside were Alex and a kindly looking couple. "Scott!" Alex waved as they got out. "We got your message."

"I appreciate your assistance in this situation," Xavier said to Sheriff Lobo.

"Yeah well, paperwork's always a hassle but in this case it's for a good cause," Sheriff Lobo shrugged.

"I don't know if I can do this…" Kurt whispered. "I mean I've just met him and…" He stopped when Rogue put her hand on his shoulder.

"The Sidneys are good people," Alex told Kurt. "They've been friends with my family for years. They love kids and they have no problems with mutants."

"He'll grow up safe and with a good family that loves him," Rogue said. "In Hawaii far away from the craziness in Bayville. You can't get much better than that."

"You know this is the only way," Xavier said softly.

"I know…" Kurt sighed as he looked at his brother. "But it doesn't make this any easier. It feels like I'm doing what my mother did."

"It's not like we'll never see him again," Rogue told him. "When he's older and his powers show up, he'll come to the Institute."

"I just hope he doesn't hate us for what we're doing to him," Kurt sighed.

"What we're doing is saving his life and giving him a home with a good family," Rogue snapped, tears in her eyes. "Damnit Kurt, you don't think this isn't tearing me apart too? But we both know what will happen if the Red Ninjas even suspect…And don't forget about Zartan and Mystique! Do you really want our brother to be raised by **them?"**

The Sidneys got out of the jeep. "Hello," The woman said. "I'm Joyce and this is my husband Thomas."

Kurt felt very nervous. "I…I'm Kurt and this…" He looked at the baby in his arms. "This is my brother. He, he doesn't have a name yet."

Joyce gave him a sad, understanding smile. "I know this is hard for you. I promise, we'll take very good care of him. We'll love him and protect him and we'll teach him as best we can that being a mutant isn't a bad thing. I don't know what else to say other that, my husband and I want a baby very much and it doesn't matter what he is or what he can do. We'll love him for simply who he is."

"I guess I can't ask for more," Kurt said softly. He handed him over to Joyce. "Thank you for doing this."

"No, thank you," Thomas said looking at his new son. "You don't know how much this means to us."

"You don't know how much it means to us that our brother will be safe," Rogue said softly. "Have you thought of a name yet?"

"We were thinking of calling him Kevin, after my father," Thomas said. "Is that okay?"

"Kevin Sidney, I like that," Kurt nodded. "It's a good name."

"Don't worry," Sheriff Lobo told him. "I know how to work these kind of things. Only the four of us on this island will know the truth about his past. Until he's ready…"

"And that won't be so long," Kurt made a weak smile. "Only until he's what? Thirteen or fourteen or fifteen? Take care of him."

"We'd better get going," Althea interrupted gently.

"All right," Kurt nodded. "Goodbye little brother, take care."

"Yeah, don't cause too much trouble for your new mom and dad," Rogue choked. They waited until Alex and Sheriff Lobo took the Sidneys away before they transported back to the mansion. "Well, that's it then."

"What you two did, was very brave," Xavier said softly.

"It's not like we could have taken care of him anyway," Rogue put on a brave face. "I mean, we're still in school. We've got our own lives."

"Yeah," Kurt added, in a tone that implied he also didn't really mean what he was saying. "It was for the best."

"Will you two be okay?" Scott asked.

"Eventually…" Kurt sighed. "But right now…My sister and I want to be alone for a while."

The others left and the two siblings stood there, looking out the window, not saying a word as the tears fell down their faces.

**So that's how I got Morph into my twisted universe? Sad huh? Don't be too sad, the next chapter will be funny. I promise! Really! I need a tissue…**


	42. Satellite's Down Again

**Satellite's Down Again**

A week passed since that fateful night and things were relatively quiet at the Institute. Eventually Kurt and Rogue were returning to their normal selves and getting over the loss of their brother. Fortunately they were quite over the disappearance of Mystique within a few minutes of her departure so it all evened out.

"I still can't believe Mystique got away," Scott said to Xavier as they went through the halls.

"Considering the damage it's unlikely she was able to leave on her own," Xavier said. "And I detected traces of a psychic attack on Storm Shadow."

"So which one of our enemies you think is responsible?" Scott asked. "Not like we don't have plenty to choose from."

"It could be any one of them," Xavier said. "Or it could be an enemy we have no idea about."

"Great…" Scott said sarcastically. "Hey what's the commotion?"

They went into the living room where the X-Men and the Misfits were watching TV. "What's going on?" Scott asked.

"You know those stupid reporters Hector Rameriez and Tawny Dawson?" Kitty said. "And that live special they were doing from GB1?"

"You mean that new satellite that billionaire built so that rich people can fly into space and pretend they're astronauts for a few days?" Scott asked.

"That's the one," Rogue said. "He even made his own space shuttle."

"Hey, anything that gets those two off the planet has to be a good thing," Cover Girl said.

"Well they ran into technical difficulties," Jean pointed to the screen.

"What are they doing in a jungle?" Scott asked.

"Long story short, the satellite crashed into Africa," Todd said. "Nobody got hurt cause they were able to use their rockets somehow to make a safe landing, but it was sure funny to see the news people throw up."

"I wouldn't call **that **a safe landing Toad," Kitty said. The news reporters and their crew were surrounded by strange looking ape-men with very sharp spears.

"This is Hector Rameriez! I am being surrounded by strange ape men who do not look happy to see me!" Rameriez shouted.

"YOU?" Tawny Dawson. "What about **me** you goon? Hey! Hands off!" She slapped an ape-man pawing at her dress. "That's a 1200 dollar Vatton you freak!"

"Tawny I don't think you should have done that…" Rameriez gulped as the ape-men brandished their spears and started screaming. "If anyone is watching this broadcast…HELP!" That's when the signal broke.

"Well that's something you don't see every day," Todd said. "Who says there's nothing good on TV anymore?"

"Oh god no…" Spirit winced. "They found the Primorts!"

"The **what?"** Hank asked.

"You know about these guys?" Scott asked.

"Know them?" Shipwreck said. "Spirit here was nearly a human sacrifice for 'em!"

"It's a very long story," Spirit sighed. "And for the record Lady Jaye was nearly the sacrifice."

"Maybe I'm better off not knowing," Scott remarked.

"But knowing is half…" Fred began.

"DON'T SAY IT!" Every Joe and Misfit in the room shouted. "WE KNOW! WE KNOW!"

"Let's hear the short version anyway," Logan told him.

"The Joes had a satellite, it went down in Africa," Shipwreck said. "The Primorts, a prehistoric tribe of man apes found it and thought it was a god. Both Cobras and Joes got caught by the Primorts and were nearly part of a good old-fashioned human sacrifice. Cobras tried to kill off Primorts, Joes save the chief's son…Blah, blah, blah…Well you get the picture."

"Not really," Sam scratched his head.

"So these Primorts are like human?" Kitty asked.

"More like close relatives of humans," Hank looked at the footage. "Amazing. They appear to have a skull shaped like a Neanderthal but their bodies resemble more that of Homo Erectus, one of the first ancestors of man to stand on two legs. Fascinating."

"So what you're saying is that evolution wise, the Primorts got left back a few grades?" Todd asked.

"That's a rather limited but accurate assessment," Hank shrugged.

"It's still pretty cool," Kurt said.

"Yeah I'll bet it's like the scientific find of the year or something," Kitty remarked.

"Kitty, the Primorts are the **pre**-evolved relatives of humans," Pietro looked at her. "And considering how the world views the **post**-evolved relatives of humans, it's only a matter of time before some trigger happy nut job decides to take care his distant cousins himself!"

"I know some religious fundamentalists are gonna be **real** thrilled with this," Rogue said sarcastically.

Roadblock's cell phone rang. "I think I'd better take this…" Roadblock sighed as he went into the next room to talk.

"Gee I wonder what it could be about?" Shipwreck snickered.

Twenty minutes later Roadblock walked back in. "Let me guess," Lance grinned. "The Misfits have a mission?"

"To keep the public happy we're going on a little expedition to recover those idiots before **someone else** decides to," Roadblock groaned. "There's already reports of several bounty hunters that are planning some Primort hunting."

"So now the world knows about 'em things are going to get real ugly real fast if we don't do something," Logan sighed. "Great, just great!"

"Saddle up Misfits," Althea said. "Looks like we're going to Africa!"

"Count us in too," Kitty said.

"Are you nuts, Half Pint?" Logan looked at her. "Why?"

"Well the X-Men are supposed to save people and these guys are people…Sort of," Kitty reasoned. "I mean, we are kind of related."

"And it's going to be televised," Roadblock said.

"Televised?" Kurt asked.

"I don't know all the details but I will tell you one thing," Roadblock shook his head. "That Mark Burnett is real good at putting together deals."

"Perhaps this is an opportunity," Hank fingered his chin. "Roadblock would you object to a few X-Men going on this expedition?"

"Why the hell not?" Shipwreck shrugged. He put his arm around Ororo. "Think of it, Storm. The two of us can re-enact the movie 'Out of Africa'!"

"Unless you want to re-enact the movie **'Kiss of Death'**, take your arm off me!" Ororo snapped.

"I get a kiss?" Shipwreck said brightly. Then Ororo slugged him and he fell to the floor. "Ooh…Coming attractions…"

Ororo and Althea rolled their eyes at the same time. "Idiot."

"So who are you proposing to go on this little safari?" Logan folded his arms. "Besides me?"

"Was it that obvious?" Hank asked.

"Uh huh," Logan nodded. "Who else?"

"Well Storm and Cypher would make the most sense," Hank said. "Storm grew up in Africa and Cypher can decipher their primitive language and communicate with them."

"And since Beast here looks like the Primorts' distant uncle twice removed it makes sense to take him," Shipwreck sat up.

"Hey I want to come too," Kitty said.

"Why?" Lance asked.

"Well I think it would be kind of cool to meet people that are…Well, kind of like the ancestors of mutants in a way," Kitty said.

Pietro chuckled. "Kitty you're not exactly the type of person who can make it in a jungle."

"This from someone who screams like Tarzan whenever he gets dirt on his clothes or sees a spider," Lance rolled his eyes.

"He does not," Todd told him.

"Thank you Toad," Pietro said.

"He sounds more like Jane," Todd added. "You know with that high pitch and all?"

"Oh yeah," Lance nodded. "You're right."

"Actually my brother screams a bit higher than that," Wanda told them.

"Yeah more like one of the monkey friends Tarzan hangs out with," Angelica added.

"The chimp?" Arcade asked.

"No one of the smaller ones," Angelica said. "Or maybe it was a baboon?"

"SHUT UP!" Pietro shrieked.

"Yeah definitely a baboon," Angelica said.

"Oh I can't wait to go on this one," Tabitha snickered.

"This isn't a freaking field trip!" Logan snapped.

"Besides Professor Sterisin is coming tomorrow afternoon," Jean told them. "Most of us have to be here."

"So it'll be just Beast, Storm, Cypher, Shadowcat since she's so interested…" Spirit thought. "That's not so bad."

"Actually," Hank grinned. "There is one other colleague I would like to invite."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Hank I can't believe you invited me on this expedition," Dr. Petranet said. "This is the opportunity of a lifetime."

Dr. Petranet was a biologist that Hank and the X-Men had met while on a field trip the Redwood Forest. This was before the existence of mutants had been revealed to the world. **(See the classic episode 'Retreat') **The two of them had kept in touch through e-mail and phone calls over the years.

"I thought you would appreciate this," Hank grinned.

"We're closing in on the coordinates the Joes gave us," Ororo said as she co-piloted the Velocity. Logan was flying. Kitty and Doug were also in the chopper. "We should be there within the hour."

Flying in a second chopper were the Misfits along with the Joes: Roadblock, Cover Girl, Spirit, Low Light, Flint and Lady Jaye. "Why are we taking two choppers?" Lance moaned. "Why can't we use…?"

"Ix-Nay on the ele-portation-tay," Pietro hissed as he smacked Lance on the head. He pointed to a third chopper. "The media's here with us, remember?"

"I hope this visit with the Primorts goes better than the last time we were here," Lady Jaye said.

"Well this time we have a huge media presence," Low Light mocked. "What could go wrong? Oh I know, **everything!"**

Soon they landed on the outskirts of a large jungle. The Joes and Misfits escorted the scientists and media. "I swear if Jeff Probst asks me one more annoying question…" Low Light grumbled.

"I'm just happy we're on land," Lance grinned. "Land glorious land."

"Yeah," Doug swatted a mosquito. "Great."

"So the Primorts have had no human contact outside of the Joes?" Ororo asked.

"The last scientist that knew about them died about ten years ago," Lady Jaye told them. "Dr. Macintosh."

"I've heard of him," Dr. Petranet said. "Didn't his expedition fail and his entire party was wiped out?"

"Yup," Flint nodded as he cut his way through the bush. "Uh oh…"

"Looks like we found the Primorts," Lance gulped as several ape like creatures with fur emerged from the bush pointing spears.

"This could be tricky," Spirit frowned.

"Uh, Take me to your leader?" Hank asked.

The Primorts pointed at Hank and began to startle. They chatted and suddenly knelt down before him. "Hank, I think they think you're some kind of god," Doug told him.

"Tondo! Orto!" The Primorts chanted.

"Well isn't that nice?" Hank breathed a sigh of relief. "Cypher can you translate?"

"A little," Doug told him. "I need to listen more to their language."

"Something tells me that's not going to be a problem," Lady Jaye remarked as more Primorts emerged. One had feathers in his matted hair and a staff.

"Yo Joe!" The Primort pointed to Lady Jaye and Spirit.

"I think he remembers us," Spirit said.

"Yo Joe! Orto nantandi!" The Primort waved his staff. "Hana matana! Orto!"

"What'd he say?" Todd asked.

"Apparently he remembers the Joes from when he was a child," Cypher translated as the Primort babbled. "Lady Jaye saved his life when his father was chief."

"I remember that," Lady Jaye said. "Nice to see you again."

"Cypher, tell them we come in peace searching for others like us," Cover Girl told him. "Ones that fell from the sky."

Doug translated. The Chief spat and grumbled. "Oh yeah, they know them," Doug said. "He'll take us to their camp as soon as they prepare for the Great One's Arrival."

"The who?" Logan looked at Doug.

"I believe they are referring to me," Hank told him as the Primorts worshiped him. "Yes, yes…Thank you. No autographs please."

"Well you do have a slight resemblance to them," Dr. Petranet remarked.

"But what did he mean by preparing an arrival?" Ororo asked aloud.

Twenty minutes later.

"I had to ask…" Ororo shook her head.

Hank was being carried on a chair made of wood and vine by four strong Primorts. He had a crown of feathers on his head and was now waving to the Primorts as they entered their camp. "Hello! Hello people! I love you all! Yes! I'm here! Great to see you!"

"You're never gonna let us live this down are you?" Logan looked at him. "Just what we need, Beast with an even larger ego!"

"Amazing," Dr. Petranet looked at the stone buildings. "It looks like a scene right out of the Stone Age! A perfectly preserved society of pre-evolved humans. It's the find of the century."

"Second find of the century," Hank corrected. "We mutants aren't exactly chopped liver you know? Particulary moi!"

"Oh brother," Logan rolled his eyes.

Doug looked puzzled as the Primort Chief talked. "He says something about remembering the lessons you taught them about worshiping false gods."

"Oh yeah," Flint said. "We gave them a TV. To replace their broken god."

"Looks like they really got some use out of it," Roadblock pointed to pieces of a broken television set.

"I knew they would know exactly what to do with it," Spirit grinned.

"If anything it proves the Primorts are intelligent," Dr. Petranet chuckled.

"Maybe more intelligent," Hank grinned as he waved to his adoring crowd.

"Beast if you can concentrate for a moment," Ororo groaned. "I think our first priority is to find out what happened to Rameriez and Dawson."

"Bad news everybody," Roadblock pointed. "They're alive."

Tied to a stake was Rameriez and Tawny. Both were covered with mud and straw and not very happy. "I want my lawyer!" Tawny screamed. "When my Father's attorneys get through with you, you'll all be rugs! Rugs I tell ya!"

"Tawny you've never looked better," Cover Girl snickered.

"You!" Tawny glared at Cover Girl.

"Guys you gotta get this shot right here!" Cover Girl waved to the cameramen.

"Don't you dare! I don't have any makeup on!" Tawny screamed.

"Me neither!" Rameriez shouted.

"Where's the rest of the crew?" Ororo asked.

"Over here," Wanda pointed. The rest of the crewmen emerged from a cave. "They didn't tie you guys up?"

"We didn't annoy them as much as they did," One crewman shrugged.

"Cypher, tell the Primorts that their god has come to remove the menace," Hank chuckled.

"This just makes the whole trip worthwhile," Cover Girl grinned.

Several hours later the Primorts were dancing around a huge fire. The film crew was filming it. Tawny and Rameriez were complaining about their hardships. Everyone else was watching and relaxing. "This is remarkable!" Dr. Petranet watched. "This is going to be a fascinating experience!"

"Here," Doug handed him a device. "I've managed to translate most of the Primort words and put them into this data pad. Think of it as a Primort-English Dictionary."

"So you're staying here?" Kitty asked.

"Along with a camera crew," Dr. Petranet explained. "We'll do a documentary on the Primorts as well as scientific study."

"The Primorts don't mind," Doug said. "As long as we take Rameriez and Tawny away."

"You know maybe I should stay here as well?" Hank sniffed. "At least here I'm appreciated."

The Primort Chief walked up with a female Primort. "Tondo nato matani rok malana."

"What did he say?" Hank asked.

"He says, that she is his daughter and he's offering her as your bride," Doug told him.

The she ape creature pursed her lips in kiss. "Oh dear…" Hank gulped.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"I thought the two of you made a cute couple," Logan grinned as the X-Men flew back to the Institute in the Velocity. The Misfits were flying back to the Pit with the rescued reporters.

"Shut up," Hank sulked.

"Good thing we came up with that lie about you already having a sky goddess as a wife," Logan said. "And that she gets very jealous. Right Ororo?"

"Remind me to use some very painful lightning on you later," Ororo glared.

"Hey better him than Shipwreck," Logan pointed out.

"A **rock** would be better than Shipwreck," Ororo admitted.

"Look at the bright side," Kitty said. "For once we went on a mission and nothing bad happened."

"Nothing unless you count me being nearly married off to an extra from a bad caveman movie!" Hank told her.

"I dunno Hank," Logan shook his head. "She looked like a real looker to me. That could have been your last chance. Your kids would have been real cute."

"Logan, do me a favor and stifle yourself will you?" Hank glared at him. "Approaching the Mansion…What the…?"

"It's on fire!" Kitty screamed as she pointed to the horrific sight below.

"Oh great!" Logan groaned. "Who attacked us **this time?"**

**Who indeed? Find out what happened when the others were in Africa! **


	43. Something Sinister You Know The Rest

**Something Sinister…You Know The Rest**

"Now I want all of you to be on your best behavior, got it?" Jean told the X-Men. Several of them were dressed up for the night.

"Come on Jean," Bobby said. "What do we look like? Misfits?"

"Let's just saythat a fewof you have picked up some of their habits," Jean gave him a look. The doorbell rang. "Okay that's him. Just behave yourselves."

"We should have went with Kitty," Tabitha grumbled to the other New Mutants. "I hate dressing up for people. Don't get me wrong, it's nice that Jean's teach don't hate us but still I wanted to have some fun."

"Yeah this is gonna be boring," Jamie groaned. "I'm gonna go upstairs and play some video games." He went to do so.

"I'm with you kid," Tim nodded and followed him.

"They won't miss us," Ray shrugged and went upstairs as well.

"Oh well, more punch for us," Roberto shrugged.

Dr. Sterisin was soon inside the mansion. "Thank you for inviting me Professor Xavier. You have no idea how long I've wanted to come here."

As the Professor and Sterisin went into the next room and made small talk Jesse quickly ducked back into the hallway. "Yo, Jesse what's up?" Tabitha asked as she noticed he was very nervous.

"Get Jean and Scott back here! Now!" Jesse whispered.

"Why?" Tabitha asked.

"Just do it! It's important!" Jesse hissed.

"Why don't you just call out to her with your thoughts or…?" Tabitha began. Jean poked her head around the corner. "Never mind."

"What's the hold up?" Scott asked as he and Jean walked up to them.

"Bedlam here's throwing a fit of some kind," Tabitha shrugged.

"Guys! Listen to me, remember that crazy doctor I told you about?" Jesse asked. "The one who tried to experiment on me back at the hospital?"

"Yeah," Scott said.

"**That's **him!" Jesse whispered.

"What? You must be mistaken," Jean said.

"No way," Jesse shook his head. "I'll never forget what that guy looked like!"

"It could be a mistake," Jean was adamant. "Maybe he just looks similar to him?"

"I'm not crazy Jean. I know what I saw! What I'm seeing!" Jesse was equally adamant.

"And what did you see, pray tell?" Sterisin asked as he walked up to them. Xavier and the other X-Men were behind him.

"The crazy experiments you ran on me! Or tried to run on me!" Jesse shouted.

"Jesse please," Xavier said calmly. "Doctor Sterisin is our guest."

"He's also crazy!" Jesse said.

"You're the one who's acting nuts dude," Bobby grumbled.

"No…" Betsy focused her powers. "He really believes that you did try to hurt him."

"Well I can explain that quite easily," Sterisin remarked.

Suddenly the entire mansion seemed to come crashing down on each and every one's brain. "It's the truth," Sterisin grinned as several X-Men had been knocked to their knees. "Still conscious? Very wise of you Professor to make sure your students had some rudimentary mental blocks in their mind."

"That was a psychic blast!" Betsy shouted. "He's a telepath!"

"It's my own fault I suppose," Sinister reformed into his real appearance. "When you take so many different shapes you tend to lose track from time to time. Oh well, at least this will edit out the dull small talk."

"You!" Remy gasped. "Sinister!"

"That's **Mr. Sinister** to you, Gambit," Sinister grinned. "So good to see you again."

"Sinister…" Xavier's eyes narrowed. "I've heard of you, but I thought you were only…"

"A myth? A family legend? A bogeyman your grandparents told you to keep you behaving?" Sinister mocked. "I'm that and more…"

"Well whatever you are, you sure picked the wrong group of people to mess with!" Tabitha shouted creating a large time bomb and threw it right at him. Sinister didn't even bother to move before the bomb blew a hole in his midsection.

"Yeah! That's what I'm…What the?" Tabitha was shocked as Sinister merely reformed himself.

"Please," Sinister yawned. "Is that the best you can do?"

"We can certainly try harder…" Rina bared her claws.

"You must be X23," Sinister looked at him. "Certainly you're easier on the eyes than the original. But I think I'll let my friends play with you."

BOOM!

A green portal opened up behind him and several strange mutants leapt out. "What the heck…?" Rogue's jaw dropped.

"You didn't think that the Misfits were the only ones to have access to a teleportation device?" Sinister raised an eyebrow. "Since Jean was so kind to introduce her team to me, I'd like to introduce my team, the Marauders. Riptide," He pointed to the young man with long purple hair and purple clothes.

"Hairbag," He pointed to an individual with the body of an ape but the head of a man.

"Tar," He pointed to a completely black figure with white eyes, no mouth or nose and purple hair.

"Arclight," A tall shorthaired brunette woman wearing silver armor.

"Blockbuster," A huge two toed bald behemoth in black spandex.

"And Loudmouth," He pointed to a young man with black hair, black clothes and several pairings in his ears and nose. "You know why we call him that?"

Loudmouth opened his mouth and a loud, devastating scream filled the hallway, knocking the X-Men down on their knees. "That's why." He made a motion and the other Marauders took out their earplugs. "Get them!"

Before the X-Men knew it several of them were covered in a black tarlike substance that Tar shot out of his body. "I can't move!" Peter shouted as he struggled to escape.

"The fun's just getting started," Riptide began to spin his body so that the lower half of him resembled a cyclone. He knocked down Remy and the other free X-Men so that Tar could cover them in goo.

"Ugh! And I thought Toad's slime was disgusting!" Amara struggled to get free.

"Good work," Sinister grinned. "You did better than I expected. But there are still a few X-Men loose."

"We'll get 'em," Hairbag grunted. He went up with Arclight and Blockbuster. "We still need a good workout."

"Don't forget to search their rooms and bring back all the hairbrushes you can find!" Sinister shouted.

"Hairbrushes?" Kurt struggled. "You want to open a salon or something?"

"No, I want your genetic material. Now hold still," Sinister grinned as he took out a syringe and advanced towards Kurt. "This might hurt a bit. Who am I kidding? It will hurt a lot!"

**What will happen next? Will the X-Men get away? Find out next time! **


	44. Never Tick Off A Telepath

**Never Tick Off A Telepath**

Upstairs Tim, Ray and Jamie were playing with video games while the events proceeded downstairs. Penny was there too, casually chewing on an old game cartridge. "She's getting drool all over it," Ray groaned.

"You tell her to stop," Jamie said. "That game stinks anyway."

BOOM!

"Whoa!" Ray blinked. "Either the sound system has improved a lot or something happened downstairs!"

"What the hell was that?" Tim shouted.

"Whatever it was, it sure was loud," Jamie said.

"Something's goin' around here," Tim frowned. Penny started to growl. "Something bothering you girl? Me too." He held his arms out and blasted at the door.

"AAGGGHHH!" Hairbag screamed as he was shoved violently into the wall across the hallway by Tim's energy blast and the door.

"How did you know that an enemy was behind the door?" Ray asked Tim.

"I didn't," Tim shrugged. "I just felt like blowing something up."

"Well, looks like we got a few more X-Kiddies to play with," Blockbuster grinned as he and Arclight emerged.

Arclight was holding a bag of some kind. "Let's have a little fun shall we?" With her free hand she created some kind of light weapon and threw it at the mutants, scattering them.

"This is not gonna be easy," Ray said.

"This will be…" Blockbuster began before Penny tackled him. "OW! OW! THAT HURTS!"

"Not as much as this!" Ray shouted as he sent off a full electric blast at the other Marauders.

Although Arclight managed to make some kind of shield for herself that bounced off the attack, Hairbag was not as fortunate. "YEOWWWW!"

Then Tim tried to zap Arclight but only got Hairbag again. "OWWWWWW!"

"You can't hurt me," Arclight grinned as she let the shield down and prepared to attack. Only to be tackled by a dozen Jamies. "HEY! GET OFF ME! WATCH THOSE HANDS KID!"

"Okay, maybe this will be easy," Ray shrugged as he zapped Hairbag again. "Man this place is gonna smell like fried dog for weeks!"

"OW! OW! OW!" Blockbuster screamed as Penny mauled him. "GET HER OFF OF ME! GET HER OFF! THAT HURTS!"

Meanwhile downstairs…

"Now to take some of your DNA…" Sinister grinned as he advanced on Kurt.

"Sorry, but I kind of like my DNA right where it is," Kurt grinned. He managed to teleport right out of the tar holding him and behind Sinister, where he gave him a huge kick.

Bobby froze the tar around him and it broke. "Oh yeah! Now we're talking!"

"GET THEM!" Sinister shouted.

Tar tried to trap them again by shooting tar at them. "Over here!"Kurt teleported right in front of Loudmouth.

"Stupid little…" Loudmouth began to scream. Suddenly Kurt teleported instantly. At the same time Tar had sent a shot of tar at Kurt. It hit Loudmouth instead right in the mouth. "UGGGHHHH!"

"Idiots," Riptide hissed. "Let's do this the easy way shall we," He went towards Jean. "You X-Kiddies better surrender unless you want to see your friends here sliced and diced."

"I don't need my **hands **to keep you away from me!" Jean shouted as she telekinetically lifted Riptide off his feet.

"Hey! No fair! Leggo!" Riptide was hovering in the air.

"Okay," Jean tossed him right into Sinister.

"GET OFF ME YOU FOOL!" Sinister shouted.

"No more Mister Nice guy," Tar hissed. He used his powers to constrict the tar he created around the X-Men. "If you ever wanna breathe again you'll all behave yourselves. My power can control the tar I create so there's no way you can escape!"

"I don't think so. You forgot **my** power," Everett grinned. "I can pick up any powers any mutant has near me." Suddenly the tar began to fall off the captive mutants. "**Any **mutant! Including yours Tar!"

"All right!" Tabitha shouted as she was freed. She made a huge energy bomb and sent it straight at Tar. "Bombs away!"

"Oh crud…" Tar winced as the bomb headed straight for him and could not get out of the way fast enough.

BOOOM!

"TAR! PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER!" Sinister snarled as pieces of Tar flung all over the place. "STOP THEM YOU FOOLS!"

"I don't think so! You're not getting any samples from us!" Jean shouted.

"I already have plenty of **your** DNA Jean," Sinister grinned. "Remember some of our lessons? The blood samples you gave me to analyze? I did a bit more than that. They've given me some…interesting results in my experiments."

"YOU SICK BASTARD!" Scott shouted as he shot out a force beam at him.

Sinister simply stood there as if it didn't matter. However, when the beam hit him, it did. "YEAAARHHHHRRRRRRHHH!" Sinister screamed as his torso was severed from his legs.

"Oh my god!" Amara screamed at the sight.

"Boss?" Riptide blinked before Jean used her powers to throw him against the wall.

Sinister's body slowly pulled itself together, however it was slower than before. "It's like a scene out of the Terminator…" Kurt gasped.

"That…HURT!" Sinister growled as he put himself together. "That actually **hurt** me!"

"GOOD!" Scott shot off another blast at him. This time Sinister managed to dodge it.

"You can't…." Sinister growled before a book hit him on the head. "Stop me?" He looked upwards and saw Jean float in the air. She was also using her telekinesis to make several other objects float around. "This does not look good."

Rina had her claws pointed at Riptide's throat. "Stay down," She hissed.

The other mutants had managed to corner the other Marauders. "Should we…?" Rahne began.

"Something tells me Jean's got this one covered," Rogue pointed.

"I looked up to you…" Tears of rage leaked from Jean's eyes. "I **trusted** you!"

Immediately every piece of furniture, every book, pencil or other object not secured began to levitate and spin around the room. "You used me…" Jean growled.

"YEAAHAAHHHGGGH!" Sinister grabbed his head. "What are you doing? You're not supposed to be able to break my shields!"

"She's got a little help here," Betsy made a psychic knife and focused. "In case you haven't noticed there are **three** telepaths in this room."

"Actually **four** now," Everett joined in the psychic attack.

"**Five**," Danielle used her powers to make Sinister scream in terror.

Jean also used her powers to slam the objects into Sinister's body. "Stop this!" Sinister shouted.

"No it's **you **who will stop," Xavier told him. "You are not welcome here Sinister!"

"OW! OW! OW!" A very singed Hairbag and extremely beat up Blockbuster went tumbling down the stairs.

"Hey don't go!" Tim shouted as the other mutants ran down. "The party's just getting started."

"Boss I think we'd better get outta here!" Riptide shouted.

"Yeah I got a whole bunch a hairbrushes!" Arclight shouted as she ran down with a bag. "We got what we came for!"

"Then let's blow this pop stand!" Riptide was able to use his powers to suddenly shove Rina away. He pressed a button and a green portal opened. "Run for it!"

By now Tar had pulled his body together. Bobby froze him. "Why don't you chill out?" He snickered.

The other Marauders decided to run. They fought through the mutants and jumped into the portal. Blockbuster grabbed Tar and shouted. "Boss! We gotta go!" He leapt into the portal and it closed up.

"You're not going anywhere!" Jean telekinetically lifted up Sinister and threw him on top of the wall. "Scott…"

"I got it," Scott sent out a blast of his optic beam at him.

Suddenly Sinister managed to press a button creating a portal of his own. "Another time!" He shouted as he teleported away just before Scott's blast hit him. The blast hit the roof and caused some of it to catch fire.

"Good shot," Tim said sarcastically.

"This is why we don't have people over more often," Bobby grumbled. "What a mess."

"And look who's finally showing up," Danielle pointed to the Velocity as it landed.

"What happened?" Logan shouted as the other X-Men rushed in.

"Besides Jean's teacher being an evil mutant nutcase, our home getting trashed and nearly being part of some weird science experiment?" Ray asked. "Nothing much."


	45. Sinister Pasts

**Sinister Pasts**

A few hours later the X-Men and Misfits were assessing the damage. "Well we needed a new roof anyway," Hank sighed. "But other than that the damage was surprisingly minimal." The X-Men were cleaning up the mess while the Misfits were returning from searching.

"If you don't count the entire first floor being totally trashed," Kitty grumbled. She saw Roadblock and the Misfits enter in the front door. "Let me guess, you didn't find him?"

"We went to his lab on campus but it was too late," Roadblock told them. "It was cleaned out. Like he was in a hurry to vacate."

"His home address is literally an empty lot," Althea told them. "The dean of the University has no clue where he is either."

"You went to the head of the University?" Jean asked.

"We had to," Cover Girl told her. "We had to call in the FBI to serve a warrant. We've got techs checking everything but he's covered up his tracks pretty well."

"He wasn't too happy the head of his science department was under investigation," Roadblock sighed.

"What exactly did you say?" Jean was very concerned.

"Told him the guy was running illegal genetic experiments and was involved in an attack on the Institute," Roadblock shrugged. "Which is the truth. We just forgot to mention that the guy was also a mutant."

"Great," Jean groaned. "My afternoon classes there are going to be fun! Scott, what's wrong?" She looked at her boyfriend. "You seem worried."

"I dunno, I just had this weird feeling I met Sinister before…" Scott said. "It's probably just my imagination."

"Or it could have been him in another borrowed shape," Xavier frowned. "He's been known to do that."

"You said you heard of him before," Kurt looked at Xavier. "What did you mean by that?"

"Yeah what's the story, Charles?" Logan grunted. "Is this another thing you forgot to tell us about?"

"Not exactly," Xavier said. "More like a family myth than an actual enemy, or so I believed."

"Start from the beginning," Low Light remarked. "Gather round kids, it's story time!"

"The story begins long ago back in Victorian England," Xavier told them. "In London there was a brilliant doctor named Nathaniel Essex. He was impressed and fascinated with Darwin's theory of evolution as was my great, great grandfather. They were colleagues and well-respected as well as good friends. But then Essex grew more and more obsessed with the possibility of human evolution. His experimentation with his own patients soon led to his ejection from the Royal Society and ultimately cost him his license. But he refused to discontinue his experiments, even using himself as a subject."

"So what happened?" Rogue asked.

"He became a monster…" Xavier frowned. "Using any means necessary to experiment on innocent people. He took the name Mr. Sinister in response to his colleagues' accusations. My ancestor felt responsible for not stopping him sooner and swore to bring him to justice. He tracked him to the ends of the earth, but with no success. In time Sinister seemed to disappear and as generations passed, he became something of a family legend. But I never really believed it, until now."

"You think he's a mutant?" Bobby asked.

"If he wasn't before he certainly is now," Xavier said. "And a very dangerous one."

"But how do **you **know him?" Rogue asked Remy. "And how come you never mentioned him before?"

"Don't wanna talk about it," Remy turned and started to leave. "Let's just say he and Gambit have crossed paths before."

"Wait a minute," Scott grabbed his arm. "You knew about this maniac and you never thought about telling us about him?"

"Leggo my arm Cyclops if you want to keep it," Remy growled.

"Not until you tell us everything you know about Sinister!" Scott snapped.

"There ain't nothin' to tell so **back off!"** Remy threw Scott's arm off of his. "It's none of your business!"

"It became my business the second that maniac tried to hurt the team!" Scott got in his face. "Now tell us what you know or else!"

"Or else what?" Remy growled back. "You gonna try and beat it out of me?"

"Oh I'll do more than try, Mister!" Scott reached for his glasses.

"Scott! No!" Jean shouted.

"Bring it on!" Remy charged up a card. "Gambit ain't scared of the Boy Scout!"

"Remy knock it off!" Rogue shouted.

"Stop this right **now!"** Xavier ordered with as much authority as possible in his voice. "Fighting like this won't solve anything!"

"It'll solve the problem of some people butting in when they ain't wanted," Remy grumbled as he left the room.

"Call me crazy but if there are people out there who want to experiment on us and use us as part of some kind of sick science project, I'd like to know who they are," Scott called after him.

"As much as it goes against my nature to agree with Summers on **anything,** he's right," Lance admitted. "People like Sinister are dangerous. And if he was close enough to take the X-Men down, we can't afford **not **to take him seriously."

"True," Jean looked at Scott. "But that wasn't exactly the way to go about it."

"What do you mean?" Scott asked. "You can't be defending him!"

"Let's just say you seriously need to work on your tact," Betsy told him. "I could sense his fear a mile away."

"So could I," Logan nodded. "Sinister's got him spooked. And the Cajun don't spook easily. Whatever went down between 'em, must have been real bad."

"All the more reason to know what went on," Scott moved to follow Remy.

"**I'll **talk to him," Rogue stopped him. "**You** cool down!" She went after Remy.

"But…" Scott began.

Logan put his hand on his shoulder. "Stripes is right. If anyone can get anything out of Gambit, it's her."

"Scott I know you're concerned with the welfare of the team," Xavier said calmly.

"Concerned?" Scott whirled on him. "We were nearly beaten and captured! That maniac escaped with some of our DNA!"

"I know," Xavier said. "But the important thing to remember is that no one was seriously injured or captured. We did beat Sinister and he won't try to trick us the same way again. The damage to the Institute can be easily repaired and we will take new security precautions. We have survived much worse than this."

"Yeah, and these attacks on the Institute are happening far too frequently for comfort!" Scott snapped. He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry Professor, it's just that I can't stand it. The Institute is supposed to be a safe place for us but it isn't! I feel like the place has become a huge target."

"To be fair, it's not exactly safe out there," Roadblock pointed out.

"Yeah I can't **count** all the times the Pit's been trashed by Cobra," Low Light added. "But that don't mean we give up. Every time they show up, we beat 'em back!"

"Well almost every time, but you see our point," Althea said. "There's safety in numbers. We gotta band together cause no matter which way you slice it, someone's gonna go gunning for us no matter what we do. At least when we're together we have a much higher chance of survival."

"So you got caught with your pants down?" Shipwreck grunted. "It happens to the best of us."

"We'll see how casual you are about it the next time your caught with your pants down and the Misfits are attacked," Scott told him as he stormed off in the other direction.

"With our luck that'll probably happen in a day or so," Lance grumbled.

"Looks like Gambit ain't the only one spooked by Sinister," Roadblock thought aloud.

"Yeah well, you can count me in that group too," Jesse shuddered. "Seeing that guy again really freaked me out."

"Not as much as the guy with ape body and the human head," Tim told him.

"You gotta admit this is starting to become some kind of running joke," Kitty sighed. "Every time we have a break, somebody decides to attack the Institute."

"Maybe we should stay the night?" Roadblock asked. "Just in case to make sure things are all right."

"Actually…" Ororo sighed. "I would feel better if you Misfits stayed the night."

"You would?" Cover Girl asked.

"The place is already wrecked," Ororo shrugged. "Even you couldn't do much worse."

"Is that a challenge?" Pietro's ears perked up.

"Oh shut up Quicksilver," Kurt groaned.

"Perhaps it would be a good idea for our two groups to stay together tonight?" Xavier thought.

"Okay who's up for pizza?" Tim asked.

"Pizza? How can you think of pizza at a time like this?" Everett asked.

"We just beat up a bunch of bad guys," Tim looked at him. "How could we **not **think of pizza at a time like this?"

"He's got a point," Roberto said.

"Yeah I'm in," Fred nodded.

"Really Blob?" Pietro looked at him. "That's so unlike you to be hungry late at night."

"I'm not the one who takes off at 3 am to the Starbucks two towns over hunting down those rice krispie squares," Fred gave him a look.

"No, but you are the one who keeps calling Dominos to see if they deliver," Arcade said.

"I get cravings for pepperoni, sue me!" Fred told him.

"The last delivery guy almost did," Angelica reminded him.

"Is it so wrong to express my thanks for a job well done?" Fred threw up his hands. "I was just showing him my appreciation!"

"I think he would have appreciated it more if you didn't break three of his ribs," Lance remarked.

"Did you really just say it was a good idea for the Misfits to stay over?" Hank looked at Xavier.

"SHIPWRECK I DO NOT NEED A HUG!" Ororo could be heard screaming.

"I know," Xavier winced. "I can't believe I said it either."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"All right Remy," Rogue said as she confronted him on the roof. "We gotta talk."

"How'd you find me?" Remy asked.

"Simple, this is where you always go to sulk," Rogue scoffed. "Now both you and I know that I'm gonna get the information about Sinister outta you one way or another."

"You think Remy just gonna tell you?" Remy raised an eyebrow.

"Yes," Rogue told him. "And if you don't I'll kick your butt, **after **I drain it out of you," She pointed to her gloved hand. "You really want me to do it the hard way?"

Remy sighed. "Fine. You know how I had to leave New Orleans? Because of well…What happened at my wedding?"

"Yeah you killed Belladonna's brother in self defense," Rogue said.

"Problem is, it wasn't all self defense…" Remy frowned. "Back then, my powers… Remy had trouble controlling them. When we were fighting, they just…Happened. I couldn't stop myself. And when I was forced to leave town…They got worse. A lot worse. Then I met this Sinister. He say he was gonna help Remy. But there was a price…" He winced. "Don't like to talk about it much. Let's just say it was a bad situation and it was gonna get worse until Magneto stepped in. At the time, Magneto seemed like the lesser of two evils. So…"

"He got you away from Sinister and into the Acolytes," Rogue put it together. "So that's how you ended with Magneto."

"Yeah," Remy sighed. "That's about it."

"Guess I can understand why you didn't tell us then," Rogue sighed. "But you should talk to the Professor, if only to let him know what's going on."

"I can't," Remy shuddered.

"You have to," Rogue said. "It's not just what Scott said. It's for your own good. Sinister obviously hurt you so bad those wounds are still fresh. I can tell."

"Rogue you don't understand…" Remy started to explain.

"No, **you **don't understand!" Rogue grabbed his arm. "You think you're the only one who's been hurt in the past? I know more than anyone how it feels after people use you. You don't want to be weak or burden anyone with your problems. But hiding your pain from the team…it don't work like that. Remember what happened to me a few months ago?"

"Yeah," Remy nodded. "I could kill Lucas for what he did to you."

"If I'd told someone else and trusted 'em Lucas would never have succeeded," Rogue folded her arms. "Don't make the same mistake I did Remy."

Remy let a frustrated breath out. "Deep down I know you're right," He grumbled. "But still when I think of him…Just gives me the chills."

"We'll get through it," Rogue put her head on his shoulder. "I promise." They sat there on the roof in silence for a long time.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"I can't believe I got my butt kicked by a kid," Blockbuster moaned. The Marauders were recovering in one of Sinister's other labs.

"I can't believe we had to leave the campus," Riptide groaned as he put an icepack on his head. "And some of those girls were really good looking too."

"It doesn't matter," Sinister looked at the vials he had procured. "I accomplished my goal of getting samples of the X-Men's DNA more or less. A lot less than I would have liked but it's better than nothing at all. Besides I was getting tired of playing teacher at the University. Between the Hellfire Club and Project Neverland my plate was rather full anyway. And you Marauders lasted much longer against the X-Men than I anticipated. And now we know how their powers work so next time we will be prepared for them. I'd say it was a rather successful test run."

"Wait, you **knew **we were gonna get our butts kicked?" Riptide shouted.

"Well, yes," Sinister told him. "But I had no idea that **I** would be on the receiving end of a …To put it quite bluntly, 'butt kicking' from Mr. Summers. I've underestimated him. He's not the failure I thought he was. I won't make **that** mistake again!"

Sinister thought. "And Ms. Grey is equally impressive. I wonder…" He shook his head. "That can wait for now. What's important is our next move."

"So what is our next move?" Hairbag asked.

"We need to find the Leech boy," Sinister said. "Fortunately I can get the GRSO to hunt him down."

"No need to waste us on that task huh?" Riptide snorted. "You got something more important in mind?"

"Yes, I need you to step up your training," Sinister told him. "Failure is tolerated this time because I expected it. It was to see how you would do in a real attack. Next time when we attack them for real I expect you to win. Understand?"

"Don't worry Sinister," Arclight said. "Next time we'll get them."

"The only reason we failed this time is cause you said not to kill 'em," Tar grumbled. "And we didn't have Harpoon and the others with us."

"Because I wanted them alive, for now anyway," Sinister said. "Go!" The Marauders left. Sinister thought for a moment and smiled. He picked up his cell phone and made a call.

"Shaw, its Sinister. I've found the perfect mutant for Project Phoenix. You'll never believe it…"


	46. The World Keeps Spinning

**The World Keeps Spinning**

"How are you holding up?" Scott asked Jean as he approached the gazebo overlooking the ocean. Jean was staring at the ocean watching the sun set. It had been two days since the attack. Sinister was nowhere to be found. He had even left Bayville University without a trace.

"How do you think?" Jean told him. "I've been betrayed, my friends and home were attacked. And now I've lost the only support at school I had. It was hard enough before but now that Professor Sterisin…No, **Sinister **is…Maybe I should just quit college?"

"Jean, you can't give up on your dream!" Scott put his hands on her shoulders.

"I'm not giving up," Jean said. "I mean I can take more online classes and do some private work here. The Institute is an accredited school. Maybe I can talk the Professor into creating some college level courses?"

"But it's not the same as a real college and you know it," Scott told her.

"What else can I do Scott?" Jean asked. "I can't go back to the university and I won't leave the Institute. I belong here. I'm needed here. I don't know what else to do!"

"Look Bayville University isn't the only college close by," Scott told her. "New York City isn't that far from here. There's a ton of colleges there."

"You're right," Jean said. "It's a bit of a commute but maybe…"

"Is it really that bad?"

"Remember what it was like the last few months of high school before graduation?" Jean asked him. "When a lot of the teachers didn't want us to graduate? Well combine that with a lot of student protestors."

"Ouch," Scott winced.

"There are anti-mutant demonstrations and meetings nearly every day now," Jean said. "And a lot of times they decide to hold them right outside my classroom window. And I'm blamed for all the disruptions.I'm just so frustrated Scott. The harder I fight the worse it gets."

Scott said nothing. "I'm just tired of being used and hated," Jean looked down. "Tired of the looks. Tired of the anger. Tired of being called a freak or worse."

"Don't you think **I **hate it too?" Scott asked her.

"Yes but you're **here**, not **out there!" **Jean told him. She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry for dumping on you like this…"

"Well if anyone has a right to…" Scott began. "He really hurt you."

Jean took a breath. "I looked up to him, Scott. He was so kind to me. So understanding. He was the only one there that made me feel like a normal person. He taught me so much in a few months…And now I know it was just part of his twisted experiment. And more than anything it frustrates me that I couldn't see that."

"Well in the first place Jean, Sinister is also telepathic," Scott pointed out. "A telepath who is probably more than a few centuries old. So he's naturally good at shielding. Second, you have a very trusting and good heart. You always see the good in people. Sinister took advantage of that."

"And it almost cost us our lives," Jean blew out a breath of anger.

"That doesn't mean every person out there is an enemy," Scott told her. "We have to take chances. Isn't that what the Institute is about? To make peace between humans and mutants? Caution is one thing but you can't let one crazed maniac destroy what you believe in the most."

"I never expected **you** to give me this pep talk," Jean smiled weakly at her boyfriend.

"You once told me that even good guys need a nudge once in a while," Scott said. "You've given me a few every now and then. Just returning the favor."

"I feel so frustrated," Jean sighed. "It seems like we've been betrayed at every turn by someone we were close to. Our families, our friends…"

"Yeah we do get that a lot," Scott sighed. "Of course we get frustrated. We're only human. But we can't let it get the best of us. I think most of us have held up pretty well considering."

"Did you and Gambit talk?" Jean decided to try and change the subject a little.

"Yeah…" Scott told her. "Rogue made him tell the Professor about what happened. I don't know all the details but apparently it was a bad situation he was in."

"With Sinister I can only imagine what Remy must have seen," Jean frowned. "Considering his background it must have been very bad to rattle him."

"And me accusing Gambit of keeping secrets didn't help," Scott blew some air out of his mouth. "We both apologized and let it drop. Now that my head is a little clearer I guess I can't blame him for keeping some secrets. He had no idea Sinister would come after the X-Men. A lot of us have things in our pasts that we want to forget. I mistook that for…I dunno, some kind of betrayal."

"You were just thinking of Evan for a second," Jean stated. "I could feel it."

"Yeah, out of all of the people to turn our backs on us…" Scott shook his head. "It still bugs me you know? Why didn't he let us help him when he needed it? How could he just…change like that? I…I don't want to end up like him. I don't want **any** of us to end up like him. That's why we have to stick together and not give up."

"You're right, it's the only way we can stay sane," Jean said. "Evan abandoned us and it was wrong. But for the first time…I think I'm starting to understand the reasons **why** he did what he did. You can only be betrayed so many times…Before you snap."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Speaking of Evan…

"YOU BITCH!" Tarot screamed as she lunged at Yvonne. The two of them fell out of Evan's room fighting each other wearing only their nightgowns.

"What the hell is going on?" Warpath shouted as he ran up the stairs with Bevatron and Roulette. "WOAH!"

"Tarot! Stop it! Yvonne!" Evan burst out of the room wearing only his boxer shorts.

"Oh man no…" Bevatron looked at the scene. "You didn't? Spyke you dog you!"

"It's not what it looks like," Evan defended weakly.

"Two girls in nightgowns fighting over a guy in his underwear," Warpath looked at him. "Yeah it could be **anything."**

The other Hellions came to see the commotion. "Whoa! Catfight!" Beef shouted. "What brought this on?"

"It seems neither Celandine nor Tarot like to share," Roulette cackled.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Tarot pulled on Yvonne's hair. "I'LL KILL YOU!"

"YEAH RIGHT!" Yvonne punched Tarot on the jaw and kicked her backwards. "Face it Tarot! You're not enough of a woman to give Evan what he wants and what he needs."

"Ooooohhhhhhhh!" All the male Hellions whistled at the same time.

"If by that definition that I don't act like a two bit **whore** and drop to my knees every time a guy looks at me, then no Yvonne, I'm definitely not in **your league!"** Tarot screamed.

"Whoa!" All the other female Hellions gasped.

"Girls! Wait!" Evan protested.

"SHUT UP!" Both Yvonne and Tarot shouted at him.

"I can't believe you're so pathetic that you have steal someone else's boyfriend," Tarot snarled.

"I didn't exactly have to work hard at it dear," Yvonne purred maliciously.

"Considering it's the only kind of work you know…" Tarot hissed back.

"AGGGGHHH!" Yvonne lunged at her and the two of them were fighting again.

"That's it!" Tarot pulled out her cards. "You're officially dead! SWORD CARD!" A huge sword appeared in her hands.

"You have no idea just how **deadly** I can be!" Yvonne snarled, her eyes glowing.

"Where did she hide the cards in that nightgown?" Bevatron blinked.

"Who cares?" Beef grinned. "This is great!"

_"STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!" _

The telepathic scream of Emma Frost stopped both girls right in their tracks. Everyone flinched at her icy stare. "Ladies, and I use that term quite loosely. I want you both dressed and in my office in five minutes. We can discuss your punishment there. The rest of you, **leave!"**

They all turned to go. "Not **you** Evan," Emma said. The tone in her voice made him stand still.

"Somebody's gonna get it," Bevatron snickered as he ran off. Soon the two of them were alone in the hallway.

"Look, Ms. Frost…I know this looks bad," Evan gulped. "But you see Yvonne just…and before I knew it Tarot walked in and she just…Oh man I am so busted."

"So she finally found out about the two of you?" Emma raised an eyebrow.

"You knew?" Evan looked at her.

"Of course I did," Emma told him. "Yvonne told me all about it."

"Wait, she told you that we were…?" Evan gulped. "But why didn't you…?"

"Say anything? One, my daughters' private lives are their business. I made sure they learned about birth control and have taken precautions. Two, it's advantageous for me if Celandine and the White Warrior Prince have an…alliance."

"I see," Evan gulped.

"She likes you, you know?" Emma told him. "Yvonne has trouble bonding with people for obvious reasons. And I know you like her. I take it you understand what you have to do considering the situation with Tarot?"

"This is the part where you threaten to kill me if I don't break up wit Tarot right?" Evan trembled.

"I'm not going to do that," Emma said. "I won't do a thing if you hurt Yvonne."

"You won't?"

"No. Because **she** will hurt you much more than I ever could," Emma grinned and walked away.

Evan leaned back against the wall and slid down. "Some days I wish I never left the sewers."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"But why **can't **I leave the sewers?" Dorian asked Solitaire. Solitaire had caught him trying to sneak topside. "I just wanted to look."

"It's dangerous up there," Solitaire told him. "How many times do I have to tell you? The human world is not our world."

"By why?" Dorian asked.

"Long ago I learned that most humans will either kill or use our kind for their own twisted purposes," Solitaire told him. "They will not just let us live in peace because it isn't in their nature to. Make no mistake, they are still hunting you as well as the rest of us. Do you understand?"

"But my mom is human," Dorian told him.

"Yes she is. But her son is not," Solitaire explained. "That makes her a target as well. Especially since she stood by you. Most mutants aren't as lucky as you are to have a parent like that. Remember what I told you about Artie and the other children?"

"Oh," Dorian remembered.

"I know this is hard for you to understand," Solitaire put his hand on his shoulder. "But you must trust me. These rules are not just for your protection. They protect all of us in the Vault including your mother."

"Will I ever be able to go topside again?" Dorian asked.

"Perhaps one day, when you are stronger," Solitaire said. "But not alone. A mutant alone is as good as lost. And you don't want to be lost do you? How would that make your mother feel?"

"I guess she would cry," Dorian thought. "I didn't think of that."

"Well now you understand," Solitaire said. "Go on home. Your mother is probably worried about you." Dorian ran off. He shook his head. "Kids…"

"You know they can't help it," Eve said as she walked up to him with Patch, Postman and Cell. "They don't understand at that age."

"Yes, I know…" Solitaire sighed. "Report."

"From what we've heard on the grapevine the GRSO hasn't captured any mutants in Chicago for over a week now," Cell said. "But that ain't slowing them down in looking."

"Do they know anything about us?" Solitaire asked.

"Well they suspect **something** about a group of mutants hiding in the city," Postman said. "That was inevitable, but I don't think they know exactly how many or where we are."

"You think?" Solitaire asked.

"We can't exactly walk up to them and ask them now can we?" Eve folded her arms. "We hear things on the street. I could try hacking into their system like I did with the cops a year ago."

"Too risky," Solitaire shook his head. "They might be able to trace it."

"So what do we do?" Eve asked.

"Keep exploring the tunnels," Solitaire told them. "It's good to know if there's a back door we can sneak out of if things turn out for the worst."

"And if they do turn out for the worst and they find us?" Patch asked.

"Then that will be the **last** thing the GRSO will ever do…" Solitaire growled.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"I'm sorry Mistress," the Bacchae warrior spoke on the videophone. She was dressed like a Joe Greenshirt. "My partner and I have looked everywhere at the Pit. Well save the Misfit House but we can't find the Destiny Stone."

"We are just going to have to look harder now, shall we?" Selene hissed. "Have you checked the dojo?"

"First place we looked. Nothing," She shook her head.

"Well I doubt the Joes are stupid enough to put the Destiny Stone in where the Misfits could find it," Selene sighed. "But check it out anyway. And then look again! Do not report back until you have news of the stone."

Selene shut down the phone and thought. "Where the hell are those peasants hiding it? Well I know one thing for certain, it can't have been placed in a host yet. I've got to find it soon, before the Hellfire Club dooms us all."

Selene thought a moment. "Perhaps I should investigate the Pit personally? Yes…and I think I know where I should start. The Misfits. And if I happen to encounter young Avalanche…It will just be part of my investigation."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"I'm glad you decided to talk about selling your house, Mr. Dale," A tall man with dark hair, glasses and a business suit sat on a chair in a living room.

"I'm only doing this to please my wife Mr. Maxwell," Mr. Dale, a fortyish ordinary looking man sighed.

"Now honey it doesn't hurt to listen," His wife said as she brought in some tea. "I hear the Clays got a very good deal on their house and were able to move far away from Bayville to a town where people are **normal!"**

"It's hard isn't it?" Maxwell said sympathetically. "Living in a town full of mutants. Never knowing when your family will be threatened or worse…"

"Don't think I haven't thought of moving before," Mr. Dale told him. "I wish I could afford to move as far from these freaks as possible. When they allowed those muties in the high school it nearly did me in I tell you. Every day I had to call my kids from work to see if they were okay."

"Thank god the school board finally came to their senses," Mrs. Dale sighed as she poured the tea. "Of course this was **after** all the times those mutants wrecked the school. Poor Jill's graduation was ruined because of them! At least Jack and Janet's remaining schooling will be mutant free!"

"That's not what I heard…" Maxwell sighed. "There are rumors going around that the school board is reconsidering allowing mutants back into public school."

"Are you joking?" Mr. Dale nearly slammed his coffee cup down. "Is this some kind of sick joke?"

"I'm afraid not," Maxwell shook his head.

"But how could they allow that?" Mrs. Dale asked.

"I'm afraid Professor Xavier has a lot of influence in Washington DC and has quite a few lawyers working for him," Maxwell shook his head.

"It makes me sick," Mr. Dale hissed. "Damn politicians and judges look the other way and ignore decent folk just so they can get hunk of some rich freak's money to line their own pockets!"

"My company is very sympathetic to your plight," Maxwell told him. "We believe that humans and mutants should not live together. It's just too dangerous. Unfortunately the government is unwilling to solve this problem so we have to take more…practical measures."

"What kind of measures?" Mr. Dale was curious.

"How would like to be able to leave this mutant infested town for good?" Maxwell asked. "Just pack up and leave all your troubles behind?"

"But where would we go?" Mrs. Dale asked.

"Anywhere you wish," Maxwell told her.

"And what would we live on?" Mr. Dale asked.

"Maybe this can help," Maxwell showed him the offer.

"That's your offer? For **this** house?" Mr. Dale's jaw dropped.

"That's right," Maxwell said.

"We'll be out by the end of the week," Mr. Dale said quickly. "Where do I sign?"

Maxwell was soon leaving the house in a very good mood. He called a number on his cellphone. "Chief, it's Maxwell," He grinned. "Got another one. Third one this week. I know. Humans are like frightened sheep. It's just a matter of herding them. At this rate the entire town will be ours lock stock and barrel by the end of the year. And by then not even the X-men will be able to stop us."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Rahne was never really the center of all the drama at the Institute. And that was how she liked it. She was amused at all the antics that went on around her. The adults were often so busy dealing with the trouble that the other students caused they rarely paid attention to her.

That was just how Rahne planned it.

Back home she could never sneak out as much in her wolf form and explore the woods. Here, as long as Logan didn't smell her or any of the telepaths catch on to her thoughts she could come and go at night as she pleased. She was always careful to hide her scent as much as possible and had learned to shield her thoughts. If Xavier and the other telepaths knew about her nightly runs, they never mentioned it. Probably they were too distracted by Bobby and Kurt's morning pranks or some argument with the Misfits.

Her whole life she had never known such freedom. When she had lived with her strict grandfather, she was watched nearly all the time and never allowed to play or have fun. When Moira took her in and adopted her it gave her a taste of freedom she never had. And the wolf inside her wanted more.

When she was the wolf she could go anywhere and do anything she pleased. Sometimes she hunted. Sometimes she merely explored the woods. One night she had even snuck into town and caused a slight bit of mischief to some very nasty jocks. Naturally the idiots mistook her for a large dog that belonged to someone else so they never even suspected the mutants. She smiled to herself as she thought of her secret trophy stashed in her drawers, a torn piece of a Bayville High letterman's jacket.

One night she had tangled with a huge Doberman and won. Hiding the wounds she got from the fight was tricky. Fortunately they were little more than scratches and could be hidden under her clothes. Her soreness she was able to pass off as a side effect from Logan's Danger Room sessions. No one ever questioned that.

It was really the only thing in Rahne's life that she kept private. In her human form, her life was an open book. She was always friendly and willing to gossip. But her night hunts…They were an outlet for her.

She didn't think anyone would understand her need to be wild. Except maybe Mr. Logan and Mr. McCoy. Still they were adult males and she was a teenage girl. A teenage girl that wanted some freedom in her life.

Suddenly she picked up an unfamiliar scent. The scent of another wolf. She raced toward it and found a huge silver wolf staring at her on top of a rock in a clearing. The wolf did not challenge her. He merely stared at her.

This was no ordinary wolf. She could see it in his eyes. _Who are you?_ She asked in wolf speak.

_Someone like you…_The silver wolf replied as he came down from the rock. The wolf shifted into a partial human form. Then into a full human form. He was a tall boy of eighteen with black clothes, yellow eyes and long silver hair.

"Hello Rahne," He spoke with a soft Irish accent. "I'm Aiden."

"You are like me," Rahne was amazed as she changed into human form.

"Of course I am," Aiden grinned. "You didn't really think you were the only one of our kind did you?"

"Our kind?" Rahne asked.

"Mutants like us, the Wolf Clan have existed since the dawn of time," Aiden said. "Where do you think all those stories about werewolves came from?"

"But how…?" Rahne gasped. "I never knew…The Professor…"

"Professor X doesn't know everything," Aiden chuckled. "We've been pretty good at concealing ourselves over the centuries. We learned a little magic ages ago to fool machines such as his. You could learn such power."

"If you start saying things like 'It's your destiny'…" Rahne glared at him.

"As much of a cliché as it sounds, it's the truth," Aiden said. "You know you're not like the others don't you? Why else would you hide your nightly hunts?"

"You know about them?"

"Of course. I've been watching you for a while now. Trapped in that human world. Forced to conform to their rules and their customs. Made to feel ashamed of your natural urges and desires."

"The Professor never made me ashamed of what I am," Rahne defended.

"Really? Then he's an exception to the rule," Aiden shrugged. "But he's always going on about how you should control the wolf inside you? Am I right?"

"He doesn't lecture me that much…" Rahne said softly.

"Well that's because you're smart enough to fool him," Aiden said. "I have to admit, I'm impressed. Mutants like that who think they are the highest in evolution are so easy to fool. They assume that they are the best and brightest and it is their heaven sent duty to keep us base animals in line and make us aspire to greatness! I don't know who came up with the term 'Homo Superior' for mutants but whoever it was certainly the stupidest name invented. That's all people like that need, an official title to show how wonderful they are!"

"He's not like that! The Professor's not arrogant at all!" Rahne spoke up.

"Well not with you," Aiden circled her. "To him you're one of his converts! One of his chosen disciples. I wonder what he'd say if he found out about some of your nightly activities? Hmmm? How do you think he'd feel if he found out his so-called domesticated puppy was really a hunting wolf? What would you say if he knew you killed?"

"Only rabbits and other animals!" Rahne defended. "And I eat those. I-I never…"

"Relax," Aiden held up his hands in a sign of submission. "I never said I was gonna tell him. Like a person like that would understand. Creatures like us don't kill for fun or sport. We kill only when we have to. To feed our hunger. Oh to have food all laid out and prepared for us is nice, but…"

"It's not the same," Rahne admitted. "Some nights, I purposely don't eat too much so I can hunt."

"That is the sign of a mature hunter," Aiden said. "One with self control. We do not hunt animals to extinction. That is a human trait. We take only what we need."

"I…I try to be in control," Rahne said. "I try to control the wolf."

"Why? Why control when you can co-exist?" Aiden asked. "Only man needs to dominate everything around him at all times! A wolf knows there are times one must submit as well as dominate. Why be ashamed of the wolf and hide it? You must embrace your wolf nature and live with it."

"You make it sound so easy," Rahne sighed.

"It is actually," Aiden put his hand on her chin. "I can teach you. If you let me."

"I admit I'm…curious," Rahne backed away and looked behind her. "But what about…?"

"The others? I see no need to tell them," Aiden grinned. "This is a wolf thing. Who better to teach you than another wolf? Meet me back here two nights from now. That's when the first lesson begins. Unless of course, you're content to spend the rest of your life living like a pet dog."

"I'm not a bloody dog!" Rahne snapped.

"Well then, I'll see you two nights from now," Aiden grinned. Then he changed into wolf form and walked away.

"I will!" Rahne called after him. "I'll show you just how much of a wolf I can be!"

She changed back into a wolf and ran in the opposite direction. _Arrogant Pup! _She thought. _He's not that much older than I am! We'll see who's the real wolf around here! Although…He is kind of cute. Well it's not like I don't already keep my hunting a secret. I've done a few things I wouldn't want the others to find out. _

_What's one more secret? _


	47. Just One Big Happy Family

**Just One Big Happy Family**

"I can't believe how fast you guys fixed this place after the fire," Pietro whistled. "Even a speedster like me is impressed." Pietro, Althea, Rogue, and Kitty were walking in the halls.

"Well it has been a week," Rogue told him.

"No word on Sinister huh?" Althea asked.

"Not a peep," Rogue shook her head.

"The Professor has been trying to track him down with Cerebro but nothing," Kitty said. "Like he doesn't even exist!"

"Or is very good at hiding mutant signatures," Rogue said.

"Why does that make me feel very nervous?" Althea grumbled.

"You should be," Pietro pointed out. "Especially since the guy has a teleportation machine of his own."

"It just keeps getting better and better doesn't it?" Althea rolled her eyes. "What more can happen to us?"

"Hey guys! X-Factor is on the news," Todd called out. "They just busted a drug smuggling ring."

"We haven't heard from them in a long time," Kitty remarked as they walked into the living room where all the other X-Men and Misfits were watching. On the television it showed the drug lords and their cargo being turned in by X-Factor.

"Valerie Cooper's been putting the team together and training them mostly," Althea explained. "One of the main goals of X-Factor is to improve mutant-human public relations. Guess she finally started the ball rolling with this mission."

"You mean PR for mutants huh?" Jubilee asked. "I don't believe it! How'd they get so lucky?"

"Hey any good press we can get I'll take!" Amara told her.

"Can't get much better press than taking down a drug ring," Bobby admitted.

"The X-Factor team is made up of Karma, a telepath…" Trish Trilby showed their pictures on television.

"Notice the fact that she also possesses minds is omitted," Pietro said.

"Telek, a telekinetic," Trish went on. "Strong Guy, a mutant who absorbs kinetic energy and turns it into superhuman strength."

"Whoa," Tabitha looked at the large mutant with white hair and black glasses. "Wouldn't want to run into him in a dark alley."

"Medic, a healer with a photographic memory…" A shot of a very handsome young man in a red and white uniform was shown.

"This guy could give George Clooney a run for his money," Jubilee said.

"American Eagle, superhuman agility, enhanced senses and an expert marksman," Trish went on. The picture was a young Native American wearing a red and blue uniform and having a gold bow and arrows.

"I wonder if Captain America will sue him for copyright infringement?" Logan thought aloud.

"Willow, who is able to control plants…" Trish said. A picture of Willow appeared. She was wearing a low cut black spandex top, a black spandex mini skirt and thigh high black boots.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SLUT DOING ON TV?" Jean shouted.

"And of course we all know Alison Blaire, AKA the Dazzler," Trish rounded up.

"Alison…" Hank's face fell.

"FORGET ALISION!" Jean snapped. "What is **Willow** of all people doing on X-Factor?"

"Yeah last I checked she was an Eloi," Sam said.

"And she **still** doesn't wear enough clothes," Jean fumed.

Betsy and the other new additions to the X-Men blinked. "Friend of yours?" Betsy asked.

"Not exactly," Pietro cackled.

"Let's just say she created quite a stir last time we met," Scott groaned.

"Why do I have a feeling you Misfits know something about this?" Kitty glared at them.

"Well uh…" Lance gulped.

"The Joes kind of secretly introduced Valerie Cooper to the Eloi a while back," Althea admitted. "She wanted to see a mutant community. The Misfits weren't involved or invited to go."

"Isn't that a shock?" Rogue said sarcastically. "What happened?"

"Cooper wanted to recruit a few more mutants and at the time nobody thought any of them would join," Lance explained. "But Willow wanted to see the world and…"

"And how would **you **know this?" Kitty glared at him.

"We…exchange e-mails," Lance winced. "Kitty we're just friends."

"Oh yeah! Right!" Kitty snorted folding her arms. Lance tried to touch her but she brushed him off. "Don't touch me!" She stormed away.

"Kitty…" Lance whined and followed her.

"Hey! You're not exactly one to complain!" Todd shouted after her. "Man she is so uptight!"

"Talk about double standards," Fred agreed.

Paige gave them a look and then looked at her brother. "Am I missing something?"

"Uh yeah," Sam sighed. "You see Lance and Willow kind of hooked up during one of the times he and Kitty broke up."

"They were going at it like rabbits," Pietro snickered. "But it was just a brief fling."

"One of **many **in Willow's life," Jean grumbled.

"One day we decided it would be kind of fun to introduce Willow to the X-Men," Todd went on. "And it was!"

"Yeah for **you!"** Rogue snapped. "And all the guys drooling all over her."

"Including Scott," Amara told them. "And Peter."

"The claws really came out that day," Fred chuckled.

"Oh," Everett nodded. "I get it now."

"That does explain a few things," Betsy nodded.

"You should have seen the fight those two had on the lawn," Pietro indicated Jean with his thumb. "It was priceless!"

"It was not priceless," Xavier sighed. "It cost over four hundred and fifty eight dollars to reseed the lawn."

"I can't believe the media are going nuts over these guys," Jubilee said. "Look at the press eating it up."

"Are you really that surprised?" Todd pointed. "Look at 'em. They look like the Stepford Mutants."

"I fear Toad has a point," Hank nodded. "These mutants were obviously selected for a more positive reaction to mutations."

"In other words mutants that look good on camera," Fred grumbled.

"Family friendly mutants with powers not too bizarre so that they don't scare the public," Pietro mocked.

"Yeah well that outfit Willow's wearing is definitely not PG-13!" Jean folded her arms.

"Who cares? She looks hot," Tim hooted.

"At least we all know why **she** was recruited," Rogue grunted.

"Hey half the country agrees with me," Tim told her.

"The **male** half," Amara glared at him.

"I think she might get a few female fans," Betsy said.

"Hey it could be a lot worse," Logan pointed out. "Anything positive is a good thing. Only wish we could get some of that."

"This does give me an idea…" Xavier thought.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Three days later…

"Kurt are you wearing lip gloss?" Rogue asked.

"It's lip balm that happens to be a bit shiny," He told her. "I want to look good for the camera."

"Not one word Pietro!" Rogue whipped around and glared at her other half brother.

"Don't accuse me!" Pietro defended. "I'm the one who gave it to him."

"Fred Dukes stop eating the cookies!" Betsy snapped. "They're for company!"

"Well what do you think I am?" Fred snapped back as Betsy took the plate from him.

"Ooh! Ooh! Can I answer this one?" Ray held up his hand.

"Althea! Toad! Stop making out with each other!" Peter snapped.

"Just because you're striking out in the love department…" Todd grumbled.

"Professor why the hell did you invite the Misfits here?" Rogue shouted. "This is supposed to be **our **interview?"

"The Misfits are here to show the public a more diverse view of mutants," Xavier told her.

"Well you can't get any more diverse than this group," Scott groaned.

"They need to see that the X-Men are willing to get along with mutants that work within the government," Xavier continued. "That the X-Men are a legitimate team of mutants willing to help people."

"Instead of the vigilantes the public thinks we," Scott added.

"Technically you guys **are** vigilantes," Lance pointed out.

"And technically you Misfits are thugs and lunatics," Scott snapped.

"**Reformed** thugs," Fred folded his arms.

"I prefer the term sanity impaired," Arcade added. Soon several X-Men and Misfits started to argue amongst themselves. Soon it seemed like some powers were very close to being activated due to the heat of the argument.

"ALL RIGHT! LISTEN UP!" Jean shouted. Everyone stopped what he or she was doing immediately. "There is going to be a reporter and a news crew on our doorstep at any minute to interview us! I don't think I need to stress enough how much we need some good publicity right now! So for just one afternoon you are all going to pretend that you are **normal **people and not behave like the **freaks **you are! **Got it?"**

"Oh **there's** an inspiring pep talk," Pietro snickered. "HEY!" He was dragged telekinetically toward Jean.

"I am warning you Pietro Maximoff," Jean growled in his face. "Don't push me! Not today! You and the rest of your **idiot **squad are going to behave like mature human beings. I know it's a stretch but if you will try it for a few hours or else I will personally give you nightmares for the rest of your lives! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?"

"Jean, Jean calm down!" Scott put his hand on her shoulder.

"Sorry, sorry…" Jean let Pietro go. "I'm just a little nervous here."

"I know you are but you just need to relax a little, okay?" Scott asked.

"Yeah Jean you gotta keep it together," Pietro smoothed his hair. "I mean control yourself. We have an image to maintain. The last thing we need is for you to wig out on camera giving mutants a bad name."

"HOW ABOUT I GIVE YOU A BROKEN NECK?" Jean grabbed his neck and started to throttle him. "HOW ABOUT THAT FUNNY GUY? HUH? HUH?"

"JEAN NO!" Scott tried to pull her off Pietro.

"AAKKKK!" Pietro sputtered.

"WHAT'S THE MATTER?" Jean screamed. "WHERE'S ALL YOUR SMART ALECK REMARKS NOW? WHERE ARE THEY?"

"I need help here!" Scott called out. It took Scott, Lance, Peter and Logan to drag her off Pietro. Meanwhile Wanda, Althea, Tabitha and Rogue were laughing their heads off. "For God's sake Jean! Knock it off!"

"YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY?" Jean snapped at the girls while the guys restrained her. "YOU WANNA PIECE OF ME?"

"JEAN!" Scott shouted.

Finally Jean calmed down. "Okay, okay…I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I kind of flew off the handle there…"

"Kind of?" Pietro snapped. "You went freaking mental on us!"

"I've been stressed okay?" Jean snapped. "Give me a break! I have had a very bad week!"

"Would you like some of my medication?" Arcade offered her some. "The purple ones make you feel really happy."

"If she doesn't want any **I'll **take one…" Hank grumbled.

"Jean…" Xavier was surprised. "Are you really going to be all right?"

"Yeah this so not like you," Kitty said. "Rogue I can see going mental but you…"

"What do you mean **me?"** Rogue glared at her. "I'm not the one with serious relationship problems!"

"No you just have **problems **period!" Kitty snapped back.

"Why you…" Rogue made a fist.

"Knock it off!" Logan barked an order. "No killing each other and that's final!"

"And you wonder **why** I'm stressed?" Jean looked at Xavier.

"I see your point," Xavier sighed. The doorbell rang. "All right now everyone be on your best behavior!"

"That reminds me," Logan thought aloud. "Did anybody take care of Penny?"

"What do you mean?" Tabitha asked.

"He means did someone put her special gloves on and put her in her room so that we wouldn't have a repeat of the Glory incident?" Warren asked.

"Weren't you supposed to do it?" Hank looked at him.

"No, I had some business on the phone to attend to," Warren said. "I had to have an important phone conference. "I thought Ororo was going to do it."

"Me? I was busy getting everything ready for the interview," Ororo said. "Logan was supposed to do it."

"I had deactivate half of the security systems and modify 'em so the reporters wouldn't get blasted before they walked through the door!" Logan snapped. "Hank?"

"No one told me anything!" Hank snapped. "Why do I always have to…"

_NOT NOW! _Xavier sent a quick telepathic message to them as he showed in Trish Trilby and her cameramen. "And you are familiar with some of my students, Ms. Tilby?"

"Yes I remember we did an interview with some of them a while back," Trish nodded.

"Yeah and you got in a real big cat fight with Dazzler!" Jamie said loudly. "That was cool!"

"Have a cookie, Jamie," Betsy smiled sweetly and shoved a cookie into Jamie's mouth.

"How come he gets a cookie?" Fred asked.

"Here! Have the whole bloody tray!" Betsy hissed as she shoved it at him. She quickly recovered. "It's an English delicacy. Bloody Trays. Wonderful cookies. They're called that because of the raspberry filling inside."

"All right let's set up in the living room here," Trish told her cameramen. "This will be taped so just relax."

"I'll relax when this nightmare is over," Scott whispered to Kurt.

Soon all the X-Men and Misfits were settled in the room. The cameramen started to film. "This is Trish Trilby with an exclusive interview with both the X-Men and the Misfits, the famous mutant teams. Professor Charles Xavier is the leader of the X-Men and Marvin 'Roadblock' Hinton the head of the Misfit Team."

"He is?" Sam asked.

"Yeah he's the head adult," Todd replied. "What? Did you really think Hawk would put Shipwreck in charge?"

"Where is your father?" Ororo looked around nervously.

"Oh my father couldn't be here," Althea said sweetly. "He came down with a rather bad case of the flu. He got it tending to my baby brothers."

"He's such a devoted parent," Roadblock grinned. "We practically had to tie him to the bed to make sure he got some rest."

"It's interesting," Trish said. "Your two groups are very different in many ways. Does this contribute to the rivalry you have?"

"I wouldn't say we have a rivalry of any kind," Jean lied through her teeth. "We can be a bit competitive at times sure but there's no hard feelings between us."

"Yeah when one of us loses to the other we just grin and bear it," Peter said slightly sarcastically. "Knowing the better man won."

"And it's so gracious of the loser to admit the truth," Lance replied slightly maliciously.

"What the students are trying to say is that we are very close to each other," Ororo intervened.

"A little too close at times if you ask me," Logan grumbled.

"Oh sure we get on each other's nerves every once in a while," Hank piped up. "But that's because our two groups have bonded like a family. A large extended family."

"A very large weird extended family," Jubilee said.

"Ever see the Munsters?" Arcade asked.

Just then Lockheed flew through the room and nearly knocked over Trish. "Was that a **dragon?"** Trish asked.

"Uh…" Jean gulped. "Well…"

Making loud barking sounds Penny bounded in chasing Lockheed. She nearly knocked Trish and the others over as well. "What was that?" Trish yelled.

"Oh Penny…" Ororo groaned.

"Is one of our special needs students," Jean said quickly. "She was abandoned and that affected her. She's much more outgoing than she was when she first got here. Could someone please…?"

"I'll go!" Both Logan and Warren said quickly and ran after her.

"It's certainly lively around here," Trish blinked. "Now let's get back to your two teams. Both of you, mainly the X-Men have been at the center of a lot of controversy."

"Well people do tend to discuss and debate anything that is new and different," Hank spoke.

"Different is one word for it," Scott breathed.

"Well the Institute has had several ups and downs in its five years of operation," Trish spoke.

"Only five years?" Kurt asked. "Seems longer to me. OW!"

Rogue pretended she didn't elbow him. "Time just seems to fly when you're learning new things."

"But you must admit that between your two groups there have been a lot of problems," Trish pressed. "Your homes have been attacked, there have been several lawsuits and death threats against you and your families. How do you account for all of this?"

"I think we're cursed," Todd piped up.

"We are **not **cursed," Jean gave him a look.

"Well if we're not, we're pretty close to it," Kitty grumbled.

"What the kids are trying to say is that it's not easy being a mutant," Roadblock jumped in. "The pressure of bigotry and hatred could get to anyone. And most of them are just kids. But the goal of our two groups is to teach tolerance and how to use their gifts for the greater good. And that common bond unites us."

"I know it may seem a bit, hectic around here," Scott said. "But what school doesn't have its little ups and downs? Yes we all come from different backgrounds. But can you really say that every child has had a perfect home life? I mean some of these kids have come from really bad situations."

"Here these students have a home," Xavier spoke. "A place where they can learn to use their powers to help mankind. True we may have one or two…individuals who have trouble fitting into 'normal' society. But the Institute is a place where they can fit in and be accepted for who they are."

"So we all have our little quirks? All in all, life at the Xavier Institute is pretty much like any other normal school," Jean smiled.

It was just then a dimensional portal opened and S'ym stepped through carrying some luggage. "I can't take living with your sister anymore!" He shouted at Peter. "I'm moving in!"

"S'ym! S'ym!" Illyana stormed through the portal waving her sword and wearing a suit of armor. "You come back here you **demon lackey!**"

"Oh god we're screwed!" Jean closed her eyes tightly in an effort to make it all go away.

"I'm **not** your lackey! Not anymore!" S'ym shouted back at her.

"You are my lackey until the day I decide to hack you to pieces and serve your roasted meat on my dinner table!" Illyana shouted.

"That's the trouble with you! You don't respect my feelings!" S'ym shouted.

"Since when do **you **have any feelings at all?" Illyana shouted. She brought her sword down and hacked apart a coffee table in one fell swoop.

Trish's jaw was literally open wide. The cameras were rolling. Pietro looked at Jean. "And you were worried about **us acting up?" **

"Yeah what was that about us acting like mature human beings?" Fred mocked.

"It's official," Jean winced as Peter and Logan tried to stop Illyana from hacking S'ym and the room to pieces. "We **are **cursed."


	48. Demon Counseling and Other Disasters

**Demon Counseling and Other Disasters**

"I do **not** take you for granted!" Illyana snapped.

"Yeah right!" S'ym shouted. "S'ym do this! S'ym do that! S'ym pick up some dinner. S'ym clean up the bodies in the hall. S'ym get me some tampons! I HAVE HAD IT!"

"No, but you are going to **get** it," Illyana waved her sword.

"Now, Illyana," Fred came between them. "We have to listen to S'ym now. You'll get your turn soon."

"You **bet** I will get my turn!" Illyana snarled. "And when it **is** my turn you know I will have **plenty **to say!"

"This is so not happening," Jubilee groaned. "The Blob conducting a therapy session between the Queen of Limbo and her demon servant." Several X-Men and Misfits were watching.

"Of course it's happening," Kitty rolled her eyes. "Things like this always happen to the X-Men!"

"Yeah where the hell have you been?" Rogue looked at her. "You weren't away that long!"

"Thing like this never happened at the Massachusetts Academy, that's for sure," Doug groaned.

"What I want to know is when you grew a backbone?" Illyana shouted. "And how the hell I can rip it out?"

"This has been coming for a long time sister!" S'ym shouted. "For years I've been suffering in silence! I need to grow! I had to break out of my shell!"

**"Today?"** Scott shouted. "Did you have to do this **today?"**

In another room Hank was standing next to Trish. "I'm really sorry about this," He apologized. "I really can't believe this happened."

"To be honest I don't think **I **would believe it myself and I'm seeing it," Trish sighed. "I can't report **this**…It's too…"

"Weird?" Hank asked.

"Classified," Trish held up a piece of paper. "Three seconds ago one of the Joes slapped me with an injunction. I think I am going to trust my instincts and pretend it's legal."

"Smart move," Hank winced as he heard the sounds of several things breaking.

"You know you guys have very interesting lives," Trish pretended she hadn't heard anything.

"Well being a news reporter I imagine your life is hardy dull," Hank said.

"Yeah but not to the extent that demons from other dimensions come over or traveling around the world battling evil mutants," Trish told him.

"It's not always like that," Hank told her. "Sometimes the evil mutantscome to us."

"IT'S ALWAYS ME! ME! ME! WHEN DOES S'YM GET HIS SHARE?" S'ym shouted.

"YOU WANT A SHARE? I'LL GIVE YOU PLENTY OF SHARES! SHARES OF PAIN, SHARES OF AGONY AND A GOOD HEAPING SHARE OF TORMENT!" Illyana screamed. More things broke in the room.

"So Trish…" Hank gulped. "Do you have any interesting hobbies?"

"Well," Trish decided that making small talk was much safer than listening in on the therapy session from Hell. "My work doesn't give me time to do much. But I do try to go to a museum every now and then. I saw these paintings by Lazio DeTurmin which were very nice."

"Lazio DeTurmin? The new wave classic expressionist?" Hank asked.

"You know his work?" Trish asked.

"I have a reproduction of his masterpiece Leftist Pig. A bit heavy handed in his tribute to Animal Farm but still…" Hank shrugged.

"Animal Farm? That's my favorite book!" Trish said. "Well one of them."

"Really?" Hank grinned.

Meanwhile the majority of Misfits and X-Men left the room. Fred was left behind with the adults to try to resolve the spat. "Why do these things happen to us?" Jean looked very distressed. "Why? What is it about us that attracts all this craziness? No matter what we do, something happens and it turns into a huge disaster."

"You know Jean," Althea said, putting her arm around her shoulders. "Up until those two stepped out from that portal to Limbo, I think the interview was going rather well."

"Okay," Jean said. "Toad I am starting to believe that maybe you have a point about us being cursed."

"So how about a date?" Trish walked by with Hank. "We could meet at the Natural History Museum in New York."

"I'm pretty sure that's one of the few places the X-Men haven't been banned from," Hank grinned.

The mutants looked at the retreating pair with their jaws dropped. "Did you just see…?" Jean asked.

"Yes," Everyone said.

"Is he actually going out with…?" Kitty began.

"Yes," Everyone replied.

"**Maybe** I'm right?" Todd looked at Jean. He pointed in the direction of Hank and Trish. "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I give you Exhibit B!"

"And I thought Lance and Kitty were a bad combination," Scott said honestly.

"Yeah at least when we have a fight we don't end up on the six o clock news!" Lance said. "Okay maybe that **one** time…"

"Does anyone **not** think the only reason she's asking him on a date is that she's probably gonna use him as a source of information to further her career?" Angelica asked.

"No," Everyone said.

"Fine," Jean threw up her hands. "You're right. The important thing now is to deal with this calmly and rationally."

BOOM!

"S'ym now what did we say about fires?" Fred shouted from the other room.

"Anybody know a good witch doctor?" Lance winced.

"Not funny Alvers," Scott glared.

"No, he's got a point," Jean had a very odd look in her eye. "Maybe that is what we need. Somebody to remove the curse."

"Jean," Scott said gently. "Jean I know you're tired and upset…"

"No, no, no…I'm on to something here," Jean said. "We know Dr. Strange and Margali. They might be able to help us."

"Jean you're being ridiculous," Kurt said.

"Listen to Kurt," Scott said.

"It's gonna take a lot more than them to help us," Kurt went on. "I think we could use a good exorcism around here."

"On second thought, don't listen to Kurt," Scott groaned.

"No, he's making sense!" Jean told him.

"He is?" Todd looked at Kurt.

"I know," Kurt nodded. "It's a shock to me as well."

"Okay, Kurt you've got the Catholic Church, Sam and Bobby you two take care of any Protestant denomination in town you can find," Jean went on. "Kitty you've got the Synagogue. I think there's a Hindu temple a few towns over from here…"

"Jean has finally snapped," Wanda remarked.

"No, I'm just not taking any chances!" Jean told her.

"This is ridiculous!" Scott said. "Jean we are not going around to every church in the county in order to remove some non existent curse."

CRACK! BOOM! CRASH!

"WHY DON'T YOU APPRECIATE ME?" S'ym screamed. "WHY? WHY? WHY?"

"On the other hand, it couldn't hurt to check around," Scott said.

Just then Trish ran by with her camera crew. "Sorry. Gotta go. Big news story to cover!"

"Yeah fine, have a nice day," Jean absently waved.

"I wonder what happened to make her run off like that?" Kitty asked.

CRASH!

"Besides **that?"** Todd looked at her.

"That's it," Jean walked off. "I'm going to call for an exorcist. And this time I mean it!"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Meanwhile in the lair of the Kingpin…

"Boss! Big news!" Steve burst in. "The Pride's gone!"

"What do you mean gone?" Kingpin asked. "What happened?"

"Turn on the news," Steve told him. "They're all dead!"

Kingpin turned on the news and looked up at the monitor. The newscaster on screen showed pictures of the Pride in their civilian attire. "Good evening. Tonight the worlds of organized crime and society collide in a shocking explosion. For years the entire state of California has been rumored to have been under control of a mysterious crime organization called the Pride. The Pride has been involved with everything from kidnapping and racketeering to murder, to the corruption of law enforcement and several politicians. But it is only until now, after their shocking deaths have their identities have been revealed."

"Boss…" Two more of Kingpin's henchmen ran in. "The Pride…"

"We know," Kingpin motioned them to be silent.

"These twelve Los Angeles socialites including the famous actors Frank and Leslie Dean ran the Pride and were responsible for over twenty thousand different counts of murder, kidnapping, extortion, blackmail and any other crime that is on the books," The newscaster said. "They had operatives in government, business, law enforcement and even the military."

"**Leslie Dean** was a member of the Pride?" Steve's jaw dropped. "She's on my soap!"

"Quiet!" Kingpin hissed.

"Already as many as seventy law enforcement agents, businessmen and high ranking politicians have been called in for questioning," The newscaster continued. "Thanks to documents brought to attention by the very people responsible for the destruction of the Pride. The most astonishing part is that the people who toppled this powerful organization are none other than the Pride's own children. Apparently they rebelled against their families when they witnessed a bizarre cult ceremony…"

"So the Pride is dead," Kingpin grinned as he shut off the television. "Break out the champagne boys. Tonight crime will take a holiday."

**Next: More wacky fun and a little Lance and Kitty torture! He he…**


	49. The McGuffin Blues

**The McGuffin Blues**

"I can't believe they argued all night," Kitty groaned. A few of the X-Girls shuffled downstairs around eleven in the morning.

"Thank god classes are cancelled today," Betsy agreed.

"Of course they are," Rogue said. "Most of the adults are sleeping in after last night and the library is trashed. I don't know how the Blob managed to get those two nuts to patch up their differences…"

"By promising them to have their next therapy sessions here," Betsy informed her.

"How many therapy sessions are we talking about?" Kitty looked at Betsy.

"At least once a week starting next week," Betsy said.

"Oh goody!" Rogue said sarcastically. "Between the Misfits and the lunatics that show up here to attack us or try and exploit us it's a wonder we get any school work done at all! At this rate our senior year will end next December!"

"Hey guys," Bobby walked up to them. "Have you seen Scott? I have to ask him a couple questions about my homework."

"Scott and Jean are in New York with the Professor," Betsy told him. "They left a few hours ago. She's transferring to Empire State University. Apparently Xavier knows a few people on the College Board so it won't be a problem."

"I hear New York is slightly more tolerant of mutants than Bayville," Rogue said. "No mutant bans."

"Not yet anyway," Bobby grumbled.

"Yeah but look at all the other superheroes that run around the city," Kitty pointed out. "They've got the Fantastic Four, Spiderman, Daredevil…"

"But they're not mutants," Bobby pointed out.

"Okay, but New York does have a lot of mutants living there," Kitty added. "And Warren's company is there. I heard that Worthington Industries employs at least a good quarter of the city's population."

"That doesn't mean the norms living there are any more tolerant of mutants," Bobby grunted. "They're just used to seeing them more."

"I hate to admit it but he has a point," Betsy sighed. "Anybody up for coffee?"

"I think I'm just gonna just go back to bed," Kitty yawned. "I'm not really hungry."

"Suit yourself," Betsy yawned as well.

Kitty shuffled back upstairs and phased through the door to her room. Danielle was out so she had the room to herself. She flopped right down on the bed and closed her eyes.

"Oh come on! You can't still be sleeping! It's too lovely a day outside! Wake up! Wake up!" A familiar cheerful yet extremely annoying voice called out to her.

"Shut up…" Kitty groaned.

"Come on! Get up! Greet the day! Shake out those cobwebs!"

"Pietro if you don't shut up and get out of my room by the time I count to three…" Kitty growled.

_"Good morning! Good morning! We slept the whole night through! Good morning, good morning to you!" _

"One…" Kitty gritted her teeth. "THREE!" She shot up and grabbed her pillow, intending to throw it right in Pietro's face.

But Pietro wasn't there. Sitting on the floor was a large silver coyote. "What the…?" Kitty blinked.

"Hell-o Kitty!" The Coyote grinned.

"Pietro?" Kitty blinked.

"Nope, I'm much more handsome than he is," The Coyote ran a paw through the fur on it's head. "So when do you think you and Lance will finally do it?"

"Do…what?" Kitty blinked, still in shock.

"Run for Congress what do you think?" Coyote rolled his eyes. "Do the dirty deed. Make the beast with two backs. Get it on! Shagalicious baby!"

"Okay this is a dream," Kitty flopped back down onto the bed. "That's it. I'm dreaming."

"You wish," Coyote giggled. "Dog pile!" It leapt onto the bed, right on top of Kitty.

"AAAAAHHHH!" Kitty screamed. "Get off me!" She shoved it off her and it fell onto the floor.

"Awww… I just wanna cuddle," Coyote made puppy dog eyes.

"I'm not dreaming this am I?" Kitty gulped.

"Nope," Coyote shook his head. "I'm the real deal baby."

"Forge…" Kitty looked around. "Is this some kind of joke?"

"Forge had nothing to do with this baby," Coyote said. "I am my own creation!"

"YOU REBUILT **WHAT?" **Lance could be heard screaming at the top of his lungs. "AND YOU BROUGHT IT **WHERE?"**

"Okay maybe I had a little help from Lance," Coyote shrugged. "And the Triplets."

"Lance?" Kitty asked. "What does he have to do with this?"

"Didn't he tell you about me?" Coyote asked. "Now I'm hurt!"

"Wait, wait…" Kitty held up her hand. "I remember Lance saying something a long time ago about seeing a talking coyote but…No way…"

"Yeah and now thanks to the Triplets everyone can see me!" The Coyote stood on his hind legs and grabbed Kitty with his front paws. "Let's dance!"

"This is not happening…" Kitty was too shocked to phase through its grasp.

"_Finland is the country where we dance, Finland is the country where we play…" _Coyote sang. "_Here in Finland coyote and girl can find a true romance…" _

"GET AWAY FROM HER YOU FOUR FOOTED FREAKY FIGMENT OF MY IMAGINATION!" Lance bellowed as he burst through the door.

"Wow Lance, you're alliteration has really improved," Coyote grinned and dropped Kitty. "Now try to say this. She sells seashells by the seashore."

"DIE!" Lance charged at the Coyote who jumped out of his way laughing. "COME BACK HERE!" He chased it around the room and out the door.

Leaving a very bewildered Kitty on the floor. "WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED HERE?"

"I see you've met Lance's imaginary friend," Wanda said casually as she walked in.

"Wanda please tell me what is going on **now?"** Kitty groaned as she got up from the floor.

"Well Lance is chasing the Coyote who is now wearing one of Amara's outfits," Wanda looked out the door.

"This is freaking me out," Kitty winced as she looked.

"Tell me about it," Wanda said. "It looks better in that thing than she does."

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON AROUND HERE?" Rogue stormed up to them. "KITTY WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR STUPID BOYFRIEND DOING CHASING AROUND A COYOTE THAT SOUNDS LIKE MY IDIOT BROTHER IN DRAG?"

"I have no idea!" Kitty threw up her hands. "Wanda what is going on?"

"Didn't Lance tell you already that sometimes he sees an imaginary coyote that sounds like Pietro?" Wanda asked her.

"GIVE ME BACK MY DRESS!" Amara screamed as she joined in the chase.

"And acts like him too?" Wanda added.

"Yeah but…" Kitty began.

"Wait a minute!" Rogue interrupted. "Back up! Lance sees a **what?"**

"That," Wanda pointed as the Coyote ran by again in a red dress and high heels swinging around a giant fish. "Only without the fish."

_"Schlip, schlap, schlip schalp away!" _Coyote sang as he ran by again.

"STOP SINGING LINES FROM SPAMALOT AND FIGHT LIKE A MAN YOU DUMB DOG!" Lance screamed as he chased the animated animal.

"AND GET OUT OF MY DRESS!" Amara ran after him.

"But it looks so much better on me!" Coyote laughed.

"I do not believe this…" Kitty was in shock. "I'm starting to miss the demons!"

"Well it's not like he didn't tell you about it," Wanda said.

"I thought he was joking!" Kitty shouted. "Or at the very least being sarcastic!"

"How can anybody joke about **this?"** Rogue pointed.

WHACK!

"OW!" Bobby shouted.

WHACK!

"OW!" Ray screamed.

WHACK! WHACK! WHACKETY WHACK WHACK!

"OW!" Tim shouted. "STOP HITTING US WITH THAT FISH!"

"Let's fry 'em!" Ray shouted. Soon more mutants joined in the mini marathon.

"Jean was right," Kitty moaned. "We do need an exorcism around here!"

"Could you please help me with something?" Betsy walked up to them. "Am I actually seeing a coyote in drag that sounds exactly like Pietro whacking people with a giant fish? Or am I having a nervous breakdown?"

"It's real," Rogue told her.

WHACK!

"Why couldn't it have been a nervous breakdown?" Betsy sighed.

WHACK!

"OW!" Warren shouted. "THAT'S IT! I'M LOCKING MYSELF IN MY ROOM FOR THE NEXT WEEK!"

"And I thought Mirage's illusions were weird," Betsy blinked.

"It's not an illusion," Wanda said. "You see there's this thing called the McGuffin Device that gives substance to imagination. In this case, it made Lance's imaginary coyote come alive."

"BUT IT WON'T BE ALIVE FOR LONG! DIE! DIE! DIE!" Lance ran after it swinging a baseball bat.

"Trinity thought it would be fun to fix it and bring it over here," Wanda said.

"Those girls have a very bizarre idea of fun," Kitty watched the insanity.

"You're just noticing this **now?"** Rogue looked at her.

"So Lance occasionally sees an imaginary coyote that sounds exactly like Pietro?" Betsy asked.

"Yup," Kitty blinked.

"Kitty…Why are you two dating?" Rogue asked. "I never really understood that."

"To be honest nether do I…" Kitty moaned.

**What's next for our intrepid heroes? So many plotlines, so little brain cells. Wait a minute…**

**In the next few chapters: The Misfits are called in to investigate a scientist with a possible mutant connection. What they find is a general that's wound up a little too tight, some high powered kids and aliens from outer space. (And its not who you think unless you read a lot of 80's comics!)**

**Meanwhile, Jean starts her classes at Empire State University where she meets some very familiar characters and finds herself once again fighting her teacher! Oh boy…**


	50. Say Hello To Mister Lizard

**Say Hello To Mister Lizard**

"All right Misfits! Let's settle down," Roadblock ordered. "We have a mission from the top brass. So settle down and show some class." The Misfits were in their briefing room preparing for a mission.

Hawk and Eddington walked in. "Oh great," Pietro whispered. "Our personal ray of sunshine has arrived."

"All right listen up," Hawk nodded to Roadblock who began handing out folders to the Misfits. "These folders contain all the information you need for your next mission. It's a big one so pay attention. General Eddington has personally come here to debrief us. General."

Eddington nodded. "For a long time we've had our top scientists in the country working on ways to solve the energy crisis. This time we may actually have something." An image came up on the screen of a man with brown hair, glasses and a beard. "This is Dr. James Power. Current residence, Bainbridge Island ten miles south of Seattle, Washington."

"Dr. Power is also the man who pioneered the Broadcast Energy Transmitter back several years ago," Hawk told him. **(From GI Joe The Movie) **"This device is a serious upgrade on that."

"Dr. Power sought a new means of deriving large quantities of energy inexpensively for peaceful purposes. He discovered a method of converting matter to antimatter without large expenditures of energy," Eddington told them.

"Huh?" Todd scratched his head.

"It could open a small portal into another universe, which had different scientific laws than our own," Eddington said. "The machine could then project a small amount of matter, held within a magnetic force field, into the other universe, where, through unknown processes, the charge and spin of the matter's atoms would be changed, causing the matter to become antimatter. The machine would then withdraw the antimatter back into our own universe, and remove the magnetic held, allowing the antimatter to contact matter under controlled conditions. Matter and antimatter annihilate each other upon contact, each being entirely converted into vast amounts of energy. Dr. Power called his machine, which was built under a government grant, a matter/antimatter converter."

"Huh?" Todd blinked.

"It makes energy by taking stuff out of another dimension and bringing it to this one," Althea explained.

"Oh," Todd nodded. "That makes sense."

"In other words this device has unlimited potential," Roadblock said. "It makes the B.E.T look like a simple battery."

"About a year ago the first prototype was destroyed along with its blueprints in a mysterious series of events," Eddington told them. "We want to prevent a repeat of that. So part of your assignment is to protect the Matter Antimatter Converter or the MAC."

"Part of our assignment?" Pietro asked.

"What's the second part?" Angelica asked.

"To try and find out who was responsible for the first MAC being destroyed," Eddington said.

"Are there any leads?" Althea asked.

"Well…" Eddington looked a bit doubtful. "There is a source that claims the culprits are Dr. Powers' own children."

"What?" Althea asked. "How?"

"There is a rumor going around that they are mutants and used their powers to destroy the prototype," Eddington said.

"Who would come up with such a cockamamie story like that?" Low Light asked.

"Colonel Douglas Carmody," Eddington coughed. "He was the officer in charge of the original project."

"You mean Coco Puffs Carmody?" Hawk looked at him.

"Coco Puffs Carmody?" Lance asked. "Why is he called that?"

"Because the man is cuckoo," Hawk groaned. "Absolutely cuckoo!"

"I admit the Colonel is a bit…" Eddington sighed. "High strung."

"High strung?" Hawk yelled. "The man had to be sedated by his own troops!"

"He was under a lot of pressure at the time," Eddington looked uncomfortable.

"He blew up half of his own base and took a tank downtown," Hawk stared at him. "Then he proceeded right up to the steps of an elementary school and started screaming at the top of his lungs about how kids were helping lizards from outer space take over the planet!"

"Man that guy sounds like a freak!" Todd laughed. "And that's me talking!"

"He then proceeded to run though the school shooting out silly string at the kids shouting, 'Where's the white horse? Tell me where the talking horse is!' It took twelve men to capture and sedate him!"

"All right! The man is a lunatic! He makes the Misfits look normal! Happy?" Eddington snapped. "The fact is the man still has a lot of friends high up so we have no choice but to take this allegation seriously."

"I'm amazed he wasn't demoted!" Hawk shouted. "Or drummed out of the army altogether!"

"He had some doctors claim he was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and battle fatigue," Eddington said. "For the record I don't buy it either. I mean Hawk you get more stress dealing with the Misfits day in and day out and you haven't snapped. Quite frankly, I'm impressed."

"I've come pretty close some days," Hawk admitted.

"To be fair there have been reports of some kind of superhuman activities around the Island for the past year," Eddington coughed. "But nothing has been proven…yet."

"I get the message. Fine we'll check on the Power Kids," Roadblock sighed.

"How do we find out if they're mutants?" Pietro asked.

"And you call **me** dumb?" Fred rolled his eyes. "Xi can tell, remember?"

"All it would take is a single touch and I can scan their genetic codes," Xi said.

"Well that's settled," Eddington nodded. "Your assignment is clear. Protect the Matter-Antimatter Converter and determine if any of the Power children are mutants."

"And if they are?" Althea asked.

"Find out what their powers are and what they do and we will take it from there," Eddington said crisply. He walked out.

"In other words he wants to find out if he can use the kids for the military," Lance grumbled as he looked at his file. "Geeze! One of them's only six years old!"

"Let's not put the cart before the horse," Hawk said. "Protecting the MAC is our top priority. If the Power kids do happen to be mutants I'll think of something."

"They could be Espers," Xi spoke.

"Possible but unlikely," Roadblock said. "We'll just have to wait and see."

"And I thought this week wasn't going to be fun," Pietro mocked. "Well it could be worse. We could be going to school. Nothing's more boring than that!"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_Okay Jean, you can do this,_ Jean thought to herself as she entered the large classroom at Empire State University. _It's your first class on your first day at a new college. This is a new beginning. A fresh start. Maybe people won't recognize you and you can blend in. _

That hope faded when a few students gave her some hard looks and moved away to other seats, leaving her alone. _So much for things being different. _

"Excuse me. You're one of the Xavier Institute students aren't you?" A young man asked.

"Uh, yeah…" Jean hesitated.

"I met some of your friends at a museum about a year ago," He stuck out his hand. "I'm Peter Parker."

"Oh…" Jean shook it. She sensed no hostility from him. "Jean Grey. Wait was this the one where the Kingpin's henchmen tried to rob that museum?"

"The very same," Peter nodded. "And then the X-Men and Misfits helped Spider Man. So I've heard."

"I remember now," Jean told him. "I wasn't there. I wish I was."

"You wish you were in the middle of a fight between Spider Man and some of his most dangerous enemies?" Peter was surprised.

"Considering the equally weird situation I was in back home…" Jean sighed. "Trust me, that's the more normal of the two." **(See the classic fic Another Week of Random Madness for the whole story! Go on! Read it when you have a chance!) **

"So what are you doing at Empire State?" Peter asked as he sat down in the seat next to hers.

"Taking classes. I transferred from Bayville University after…I had some problems with some of the faculty there," Jean said tactfully.

"From what I've heard Bayville's not exactly the most mutant friendly town in the world," Peter frowned. "Must have been rough."

"You have no idea," Jean groaned. "I remember Kitty talking about you. You're the photographer for the Daily Bugle."

"It's something to pay the bills," Peter shrugged.

"Doesn't Spider Man mind you always taking his picture?"

"Let's just say he gets a cut," Peter told her.

"All right class settle down," A clean shaven, one armed man entered the room. "I'm Dr. Curt Connors and this is Neogenics 101. Neogenics is basically the science of genetic manipulation through artificial means. It's also becoming one of the most rapidly developing fields of study in recent years."

"Gee I wonder why?" One male student gave a sharp glare at Jean when he said that.

Mr. Connors gave him a sharp look. "Let me make this perfectly clear. This class is about understanding science and how genetics work. It is **not** a place for politics and personal bias. I will not tolerate any type of racism against anyone."

"But it's not like she's human!" The student shouted. "Mutants are monsters!"

"No, they're not!" Peter defended. "People like you are monsters."

"I'm outta here," The student got up in a huff. "I ain't staying in a class full of mutie lovers."

"Anyone else agree with his sentiments?" Dr. Connors asked. Two more people left the room. "Fine then if no one else has a problem, we can get on with the class."

Inside Jean let go a sigh of relief. It was dissolved when she accidentally caught a stray thought from Mr. Connors.

_These people have no idea what a real monster is. _

Jean blinked but decided to ignore it. However she wasn't the only one picking up a strange vibe.

_My spider sense is starting to go nuts! What could be causing it? _Peter thought. _Oh no…It can't be…_

After the class was over Jean looked at Peter. "Thanks."

"It was nothing," Peter told her. "I'd show you around campus but I'm late for work. Uh, I'll see you later." He ran out.

Jean was about to leave as well but something made her uneasy. _Something about Dr. Connors seems a little…off. Maybe it's just my imagination. _She saw him go back into his lab in the back of the classroom. He didn't look well.

"Aggggghhhh!" She heard him grunting.

She decided to investigate. "Dr. Connors?" Jean asked as she looked inside the lab.

To her horror Dr. Connors was in the middle of some kind of bizarre transformation. "Go away…" He grunted. His eyes turned a bright yellow.

"Dr. Connors what's going on?" Jean cried.

Suddenly Dr. Connor's entire body began to change and thrash. He grew a long scaly green arm where there was none before. His hands turned into claws. He grew a long reptilian tail and his face turned into a lizardlike snout with very large fangs. He had transformed completely into a crocodile like beast and roared with savage glee.

"Great! **Another** one of my teachers goes berserk on me!" Jean rolled her eyes. "What am I? Cursed?"


	51. We're Off To See The Lizards

**We're off To See The Lizards**

"Dr. Connors! It's me! Jean!" Jean called out. The creature that was her teacher roared and charged at her. She used her telekinesis to slam him into the wall. "Dr. Connors! Don't do this!"

She struggled to hold him. Even with her powers he was much stronger than she anticipated. And his thrashing about certainly didn't help. Somehow he used his tail to knock over a few beakers which created a small explosion. This startled Jean and released him. The creature wasted no time and attempted to attack her again.

However a shot of webbing wrapped around his snout. "Need a hand?" Spiderman asked as he swung through an open window.

"Spiderman?" Jean blinked.

"At your service!" Spiderman called out as he kicked the Lizard with both legs and sent him crashing into another wall. "Silly Lizard, don't you know that X-Men are bad for your digestion?"

The Lizard roared and swatted more beakers creating a small fire. "Those chemicals! If they continue to burn the whole building will go up in flames!" Spiderman shouted. The Lizard then tackled him. "Yikes!"

"I've got it!" Jean used her telekinesis to create a shield around the fire, slowly pushing out the air and smothering it.

"And he's got **me!"** Spiderman shouted. He managed to throw him off. The Lizard snarled and escaped out the window.

"Oh no you…" Spiderman moved to go after him. He felt something rumble behind him. "Don't?"

"There's some kind of reaction with the chemicals," Jean tried to contain the blast with her shield. "I don't know how much longer I can hold it!"

"Hopefully long enough to get us out of here!" Spiderman grabbed her by the waist and created a webline to the outside. "Hang on!"

BOOM!

Spiderman winced as debris swirled around them but to his surprise nothing hit. He then realized he was levitating. "Maybe **you** should hang on?" Jean gave him a look as she created a telekinetic shield around them.

"Okay…" Spiderman gulped as they floated outside on top to another roof. He looked back. "Well at least the school is mostly in one piece."

"Yeah we only blew up a single room," Jean groaned.

"Technically the Lizard did," Spiderman told her. "Can you let me down now?" She dropped him. "Thanks…"

"The good news is the fire seems to be out," Jean looked behind them. "The bad news is I can't find Dr. Connors anywhere."

"Just what New York needs, the return of the Lizard," Spiderman groaned.

"What happened to him?" Jean asked.

"Long story short, Dr. Connors is the victim of a lab experiment in Neogenics gone wrong," Spiderman told her. "He was trying to regrow his lost arm but ended up with tail and scales to boot. Not to mention a nasty disposition."

"You mean Dr. Connors mutated into **that?"** Jean gasped. "And he can't control it?"

"No," He shook his head. "The last time we were able to stop him by giving him an antidote. It should have reversed the mutation completely."

"Maybe the formula somehow attached itself to his genes and his immune system couldn't fight it off any more?" Jean shrugged.

"Whatever the reason, the Lizard is extremely dangerous," Spiderman told her. "I've got to go after him."

"I'm coming too," Jean told him. "You could use the help. Besides, knowing our luck if the Lizard hurts someone mutants will be blamed."

"You have a point," Spiderman nodded.

"By the way what were you doing around campus?" Jean asked him.

"What? A friendly neighborhood Spiderman can't check out a few cute co-eds?" Spiderman quipped. Jean frowned and folded her arms. "All right, my spider sense told me something was wrong so I decided to see what was the matter."

"Spider sense?" Jean asked.

"It's a feeling I get whenever I'm in danger or something really bad is about to happen," He explained. "And a rampaging Lizard Man definitely qualifies."

"You mean like a psychic premonition?"

"Not exactly, it's more like a gut instinct than anything else," Spiderman told her. "Look as much as I'd love to explain my powers in great detail, we've got a reptile to wrangle."

A loud scream could be heard. "Maybe I should call for backup just in case?" Jean asked as she looked down on the quad. Several students were running from the Lizard.

"Yeah, you do that!" Spiderman swung off. "I just gotta make sure the Lizard doesn't have Flash Thompson for lunch!"

Jean grabbed her cell phone. "Scott it's Jean. Get the team to Empire State fast! You're not going to believe this…"

"Help me! Help me!" Flash Thompson screamed like a girl as he ran from the Lizard.

"Of all the times for me not to have my camcorder," Spiderman chuckled to himself as he managed to give the Lizard a shot with his webbing. "Here Lizzy, Lizzy, Lizzy!"

The Lizard managed to throw off the webbing and charged after Spiderman. After a few minutes of dodging and weaving the Lizard finally managed to smack him with it's tail. "Okay he must be working out or something," Spiderman said groggily.

The Lizard charged but was stopped in mid air. "I can't leave you alone for a minute can I?" Jean floated down to him.

"Nope, now hold him still while I get my webbing on him," Spiderman stood up.

Suddenly a rock was thrown right at Jean. She managed to dodge it but it broke her concentration. "Get outta here you freaks!" It was the same student who had left the classroom.

"She's trying to save your lives you stupid…" Spiderman shouted.

It was all the Lizard needed to break free and escape. It charged right into the gathering crowd, scattering them and went straight into an alley. "This is really going to help my image around campus," Jean groaned as she and Spiderman went after the Lizard. "Where'd he go?"

"Down there," Spiderman noticed a manhole.

"The X-Men should be here soon," Jean said.

"There's no time to wait for them," Spiderman pointed to the open manhole. "We have to go after him before he hurts someone."

"Oh goody," Jean sighed as she floated down into the sewer. "I've heard of getting down and dirty on the first day but this is ridiculous."

"Tell me about it," Spiderman groaned as he followed her. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to get the smell of sewage out of your costume?"

"Actually…Yes, I do," Jean sighed. "This isn't exactly my first time."

"Well it's always nice to be with someone who knows what they're doing," Spiderman quipped. They traveled into the sewers for several minutes. "These tunnels are endless. Can you pick up his thoughts using your telepathy?"

"I've tried that," Jean said. "Other than some random feelings somehow it's blocking me."

"Well isn't that great?" Spiderman groaned. "Well at least there's nobody down here if he feels like having a snack. Besides us that is."

"Uh, that's not exactly true…" Jean gulped.

"What do you mean?" Spiderman asked. He then noticed that they were surrounded by several deformed and angry mutants. "Friends of yours?"

"Hardly," Callisto stepped from the shadows. "You will pay for trespassing on Morlock turf outsiders!"

"Uh, I don't have any cash in my costume," Spiderman quipped. "Do you take Visa?"

"That was definitely **not** the right thing to say," Jean groaned as the Morlocks closed in.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Meanwhile in a spaceship several miles above the Earth…

"This time we shall **not** fail," The Snark Commander hissed. "Those wretched Earth children have foiled our plans to gain the secrets of the Antimatter device for far too long."

He stood up from his chair on his green scaly legs. He was lizard like in appearance wearing a brown and black uniform. His long tail curved. His snout twitched in anticipation. "How long until our transporter is finished?"

"Only a few more hours, sir," A Snark warrior told him. "We would have finished sooner however…" He stopped.

"However **what?"** The Snark Commander hissed.

"Uh…Nothing," The soldier coughed. "Nothing important sir. Minor technical details."

"It was Skratt wasn't it?" The Snark Commander glared at him. "He was trying to **help **again wasn't he?"

"Uh…" The solider gulped. "Uh…"

"Never mind!" The Snark Commander snarled. "SKRATT!"

A younger, smaller Snark entered the command center. "Yes sir?"

"Have you been interfering with the engineers' work again?" The Snark Commander snarled.

"I was merely assisting them, sir," Skratt gulped.

"Assisting them at **what?** Digging us deeper in disgrace!" The Snark Commander snarled. "Let me guess, you were just trying to prove yourself again weren't you?"

"Yes sir, but I…"

"Silence!" The Snark Commander snarled. "Were you not my own son I would have flayed you alive by now!"

Skratt cringed. The Snark Commander continued. "Time and time again you continue to disappoint me. Like two weeks ago when you were tracking one of the Power Pack's energy signatures!"

"That wasn't my fault sir! They took me by surprise!"

"Silence! There is no excuse for failure! Fortunately for you this time your bungling has produced some success," The Snark Commander said. "The location of the Power household."

"And proof of the location of the new Antimatter device," Skratt added.

"That device will bring our home world unlimited power," The Snark Commander made a fist. "And with it we will crush our enemies once and for all. Starting with these damned Earth children! Soon, the Power Pack will be no more!"

**Sorry to leave Jean and Spidey in the lurch here, but we gotta see how the Misfits are doing! Next: Misfits, meet the Power Pack. The only other team that's just as immature as you are! Well, maybe less. **


	52. Power Pack Attack

**Power Pack Attack**

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Dr. Power asked Roadblock. He was a scientist in his early forties with glasses, redish brownhair and a slightly shaggy beard.

"It's merely a precaution," Roadblock explained. Shipwreck, Cover Girl and Spirit were there as well in the home lab of Dr. Power, which just happened to be in his basement. "Considering what happened to your last prototype."

"I can understand the army wanting some security but…" Dr. Power looked at Althea, Todd, Fred, Wanda, Pietro, Angelica, Xi and Lance. "Your guards are just kids!"

"Sir, the Misfits are more than equipped to handle this assignment," Cover Girl said. "And it's only going to be for an hour until Carmody brings the transportation for the MAC over."

"I suppose," Dr. Power sighed. "I couldn't work on this at the lab without him constantly badgering me. It was just easier to get more work done at home, not to mention faster."

"We are aware that the Colonel is a bit…high strung," Spirit said diplomatically. "Why don't we go upstairs and have some coffee?"

The adults went upstairs. Todd looked at a green machine with several wires and tubes. It was roughly the size of a large desk. "All this hoopla over this thing? Man I've stolen bikes that had more stuff on 'em than this."

"Some assignment," Pietro complained. "We sit around on our butts guarding this hunk of junk while looking for signs that some preschoolers might be mutants. I wish we were back at the Pit with Lina and Arcade. I can't believe they got out of this for backup duty. At least there we could play some video games or something."

"Lucky for me I brought my Game Boy," Fred took out his favorite toy of the week. "Hey did you guys hear anything?"

"Yeah, my boredom level hitting the roof!" Pietro groaned.

"Such is the glamorous life of a Misfit," Althea mocked.

"Well I ain't complaining," Lance sat down on a chair. "I could use a nice dull assignment for a change. Compared to our days when we **don't** have assignments it would be a welcome change!"

"Kitty's still not taking your calls is she?" Todd asked.

"Won't even answer the phone," Lance groaned.

"How much you wanna bet they break up again within a week?" Fred asked.

"I dunno if that would happen that fast," Angelica said. "They didn't break up when Lance made that nude statue of her in his sleep."

"Only because the other X-Guys were such idiots that all the girls got mad at them," Wanda said. "Took some of the heat off."

"That reminds me," Fred asked. "How are we gonna find out if the Power kids are mutants or not?"

"We get them to fill out a survey, Blob," Wanda folded her arms.

"Xi could be invisible and look around," Pietro suggested.

"No, we don't want to scare them," Althea said. "We'll get our chance soon enough when they get back from school."

Unknown to the Misfits the Power children were already home from school. Actually they had never left and were now hiding in a secret crawlspace over their father's lab. Alex, Julie, Jack and Katie power were wearing their uniforms and watching what was going on.

Alex had blond hair and a white uniform with black markings. He had the power to control gravity, making things float or becoming very heavy. His code name was Zero-G. (Age 14)

Julie had long red hair and a red and black uniform. Her power was being able to fly at high speeds. When she flew a rainbow trailed after her. Her codename was Lightspeed. (Age 13)

Jack's uniform was blue and black. He had his father's hair only darker. He could control his density. He was able to turn himself into a gas cloud or shrink his size to only a few inches. He called himself Mass Master. (Age 10).

Katie's uniform was as yellow as her pigtails and it also had black markings. She could absorb and release huge amounts of energy. Her codename was Energizer. (Age 6)

"Great, Dad had to make another one of those things," Jack grumbled. "I just hope this one won't blow up the world."

"It's called an antimatter machine," Katie said. "Even **I **knew that."

"I know what it is," Jack turned on her. "I'm just saying…"

"Quiet!" Alex hissed. "Do you want to get us caught?"

"I dunno if this is such a good idea," Julie said to her siblings. "We're gonna get in enough trouble when our parents find out we skipped school today."

"**If** they find out," Jack said. "Don't worry. It's all taken care of. I pretended to be Dad and called in sick. Besides Mom's away visiting Grandma for the next two days."

"Yeah and if that matter antimatter device is as explosive as Dad's last one, skipping school will be the **least **of our problems!" Alex told them.

"There won't be any school to skip," Jack said. "Or planet Earth for that matter."

"Being blowed up is a lot worse than being grounded," Katie nodded.

"I know, I know…" Julie sighed. "But how do we get past those guards?"

"They're not guards," Jack groaned. "They're just kids like us. Only bigger."

"That one looks like a Snark," Katie pointed to Xi. "Only his nose isn't as pointy and he has pretty eye makeup."

"I don't think that's makeup," Julie said. "I think those are just his natural markings."

"Will you two stop talking about fashion and let's just break the thing before the Snarks show up?" Jack snapped.

"We need a plan," Alex said. "Let me think."

"There's no time to think!" Jack told him. "You heard them, that creep Carmody's gonna be here in under an hour! We gotta do something now before it's too late."

"We can't just rush in there," Alex told him.

"Why not?" Jack made himself gaseous and sneaked through the air vent. Then he reformed into a very small size and headed for the MAC without the Misfits seeing him.

"And he calls me immature?" Katie grumbled.

"He's gonna try and bust it up from the inside," Alex said.

"Well that's one way to do it," Julie said. "At least they won't be expecting that."

"Hey is that a cockroach?" Todd noticed something. "Time for a snack!"

"Huh?" Jack looked up and saw a very large tongue headed straight for him. "AAHAHHH!" He turned into gas as soon as the tongue touched him. "YUCK!"

"What the…?" Todd yelped.

"JACK!" Katie shouted. Too late Julie slapped her hand over her mouth.

"SHH!" Julie shushed her sister but it was too late.

The vent before them opened. Fred poked his head in. "I thought I heard something in here!"

"EEEP!" Katie screamed, accidentally releasing a ball of energy.

BOOM!

Fred fell backwards, his face charred. "Owwww…That hurt!"

"Oops," Katie gulped. "Sorry Mister."

"What the heck is with all the smoke yo?" Todd waved his face. "What happened to my bug?"

"I AM NOT A BUG?" Jack snapped as he reformed into a cloud boy.

"So much for planning," Julie flew out of the vent.

"I guess we're just gonna have to settle for a head on attack," Alex said. Suddenly the vent gave way around them. "Or not…" He managed to stop falling by using his powers on himself and Katie as they fell through the hole that suddenly opened up.

Angelica flew up and blocked Julie's path. "I don't really wanna fight, do you?" She folded her arms.

"Not really," Julie admitted. "Wow I like your hair."

"Thanks," Angelica said. "I like the rainbow effect when you fly. And your costume."

"Really?" Julie asked. "You don't think it's too babyish?"

"No I…" Angelica began.

"WILL YOU TWO STOP TALKING ABOUT FASHION AND FIGHT?" Jack shouted, still in his gas form.

"Okay!" Pietro ran circles around him, creating a small tornado.

"YEOW!" Jack was forced to reform his molecules or else be dispersed. He was quickly flung back into a pile of newspapers.

"ALL RIGHT EVERYBODY KNOCK IT OFF!" Althea ordered.

"Busted…" Jack groaned as he rubbed his neck. Meekly the Power Pack managed to stand in front of the Misfits.

"I guess this settles the question about whether the Power kids are mutants or not," Lance groaned.

"Not really," Katie told them. "We got our powers from Whitey. You see he was this really good alien horse but he got killed by some bad aliens so he gave us these powers to protect ourselves."

"This is gonna be one of those weird origin stories isn't it?" Todd groaned.

"All right, why don't you kids tell us what the heck is going on and why you wanna trash your Dad's invention?" Althea asked in her sternest voice. "And it better be a good reason."

"Because if we don't the whole world will get blown up," Jack said.

"That's a good reason," Todd blinked.

"Look," Julie said. "There were these aliens, the Snarks…"

"They look like giant lizards and they're mean," Katie interrupted.

"And then there was this other alien named Whitey," Alex added. "He was a Kymellian."

"A good alien," Katie added. "He looked like a white horse and saved our lives."

"The Snarks wanted to get their hands on Dad's technology and use it to power their weapons and stuff," Alex continued. "Whitey wanted to stop them and help our Dad."

"You see back on his home world they had a machine just like Dad's but there was something wrong with it and BOOM!" Jack clapped his hands. "The whole planet blew up!"

"I'm telling the story here!" Alex snapped at them.

"Well tell it right!" Jack snapped back.

"Long story short," Julie interrupted. "Whitey saved us from the Snarks but by doing that he got hurt really bad and he died."

"But before he did he gave us these really cool powers and uniforms and a spaceship named Friday," Katie added. "I named him."

"Actually it's a smart ship," Alex told her. "Because it can think."

"Is anybody else confused or is it just me?" Lance groaned.

"I have three sisters and two little brothers," Althea told him. "Makes sense to me."

"So we've been using these powers to fight off the Snarks," Alex continued.

"We call ourselves the Power Pack," Julie said. "I'm Lightspeed, Alex here is Zero G, Jack is Mass Master and Katie is Energizer."

"You named yourself after a battery?" Fred coughed up some smoke.

"No the cute bunny in the commercial," Katie shook her head. "Sorry that I blowed you up."

"No biggie," Fred told her. "I've had worse."

"We usually fight a lot better than this," Alex groaned.

"I can relate to that," Althea said.

"You believe 'em?" Pietro was surprised.

"My sisters are some of the world's most skillful liars," Althea told him. "Over the years I've learned to tell most of the time when kids are telling the truth. Yeah I believe 'em."

"Me too," Wanda said.

"You believe us about the aliens?" Katie asked.

"Kid we've tangled with just about every nut job there is out there: mutants, evil sorceresses, demons, dragons, clone armies and giant robots," Todd told her. "We kind of figured aliens would show up sooner or later."

"Um, you're not gonna tell our parents are you?" Katie fidgeted nervously.

"You mean your folks don't know?" Lance was surprised.

"We couldn't tell them," Alex said. "It's too dangerous."

"Yeah even we know that superheroes can't tell their families what they do," Jack said. "Or else the bad guys would hurt 'em."

"So please don't tell them," Julie asked.

"We gotta think about this," Althea said. "On the one hand they have a point, but on the other…"

"We kind of have to," Angelica said. "I mean it's going to be hard enough explaining to everyone how the MAC could be a bomb that would destroy the planet."

"Yeah they'd never believe us," Pietro frowned. "And something tells me it's not gonna be good if we 'accidentally' break it."

"But if we do tell on the kids you know what will happen," Lance said. "Eddington will try and use them for the military in a heartbeat."

"It would not matter to them that they are not mutants," Xi said. "The fact that they have powers to exploit would be too tempting."

"This is a bad situation either way," Althea frowned. "Maybe we should talk to Roadblock first?"

"You're going to tell?" Katie looked worried.

"Just our grown up," Althea said gently to her. "He can keep a secret when he has to."

"I just hope he has to in this case," Jack grumbled.

"Wait a minute…" Wanda frowned. "Something's not right. We've been down here making a racket and nobody's showed up."

"Yeah…" Todd said. "How come…?"

Suddenly the door to the basement slammed open. Several Snark troopers burst in. Some of them were carrying the unconscious Dr. Power and the Joes on their shoulders. "There's the device and the Earthers!" One hissed raising a huge weapon. "Get them!"

"What are those things?" Lance shouted as he dodged a laser ray.

"They're Snarks!" Alex told him.

"They're mean!" Katie shouted as she powered up. "GO AWAY!" Her energy blasts hit several Snarks.

"Get them!" The Lead Snark hissed. However this proved easier said than done since both the Misfits and the Power Pack were easily clobbering them. "Fine! Forget them! We have Dr. Power and we'll take the other humans as hostages!"

"But what about the Antimatter device?" One Snark asked as he watched another Snark fly through the air.

"Simple fool," The Snark punched in his codes on his communicator. "I don't know why I didn't think of this before! Control room! Beam up the landing party and the Antimatter device at these coordinates!"

"Hey!" Fred swung at a Snark only to have it disappear. "Where'd it go?"

"They have a teleportation device!" Althea shouted as the Snarks and the MAC disappeared. "They've got the MAC!"

"And they got the Joes!" Todd shouted.

"They got Dad!" Jack shouted. "We gotta go after them!"

"But where did they go?" Pietro asked.

"I bet I know where," Alex dug out a small communicator. "Friday! We need a pickup! Now!"

"Come on!" Julie told them as the Power Pack ran out of the basement. "Follow us!"

"I hope you kids know what you're do-," Lance's eyes widened as they went out into the back yard and saw a white spaceship hover into view. "-ing?"

"This is Friday!" Katie said happily. "Say hello Friday."

"Hello Friday," The spaceship intoned.

"Nice spaceship," Todd remarked as they went on board. Soon they were flying into space.

"Bet you've never flown in a spaceship before huh?" Jack felt smug.

"Please," Pietro waved. "We go for joyrides all the time in ours."

"Liar!" Jack made a face. "You don't have no spaceship!"

"We do too have a spaceship," Pietro said.

"Do not!" Jack snapped.

"Do too!" Pietro got in his face.

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Great! **Two** of them…" Wanda groaned.

"Do not!"

"Do too infinity!"

"SHUT UP!" Lance screamed. "I think I'm gonna be sick!"

"You are **not** going to be sick," Althea told him.

"Yes I am!" Lance told her.

"You're exaggerating," Althea said.

"I do **not **exaggerate!" Lance looked pale. "I think I know my own body and when I tell you that I am going to be sick, I'm gonna be sick! I **hate **flying!"

"Look at the pretty stars," Xi blinked.

"Yes Xi they are pretty now please pay attention here," Althea groaned.

"Do you have any airsick bags on this thing?" Lance asked Julie.

"Are we there yet?" Fred whined.

"There! That's the Snark Mothership!" Alex pointed to a huge spacecraft hidden behind the moon.

"That's a pretty big spaceship," Angelica blinked.

"And here comes a lot of fighter ships," Lance pointed to a squadron of Snark fighters headed straight for them. "Now I'm really gonna be sick!"

"Please tell me this ship has lasers or photon torpedoes or something," Todd whimpered.

"Uh…We kind of broke them yesterday," Jack gulped.

"**You** broke them!" Katie snapped. "I told you not to push those buttons!"

"This…could be a problem," Pietro gulped.

**Next: Not one, but two great lizard fights coming up! Whoopee! **


	53. When Big Lizards Attack

**When Big Lizards Attack**

"So once again the X-Men show up and cause trouble to the Morlocks," Callisto hissed at Jean and Spiderman. Both of them were tied up and in the Morlock lair.

"Uh, I'm not an X-Man," Spiderman told her. "Just in case you guys forgot."

"You're not even a mutant!" Caliban snapped. "Not a real one anyway."

"He's not?" Lucid asked. "Then how does he…?"

"I got bit by a radioactive spider," Spiderman explained.

"That's not funny," Scaleface snarled.

"Tell me about it," Spiderman said. "It hurt like hell."

"Seriously?" Lucid looked at him.

"No one ever believes me when I tell the truth," Spiderman sighed.

"Why should we believe **anything** a topsider says?" Callisto hissed.

"Callisto you have to believe us," Jean told her. "You're all in danger."

"Gee an X-Man bringing danger," Cybelle folded her arms. "What a shock."

"Whether you believe it or not it's the truth," Spiderman said. "The Lizard is dangerous to everyone, even Morlocks."

"Like it's the only one down here," Callisto snorted. "Scaleface, dispose of them."

"With pleasure," Scaleface grinned before she transformed into a giant dragon like creature.

"This is not good," Jean gulped.

"Giant lizards," Spiderman groaned. "Why did it have to be giant lizards?"

Suddenly another loud roar could be heard. "Oh boy…" Spiderman saw a familiar figure bound through a tunnel and charge at Scaleface. "I had to open my big mouth!"

"And it's time I opened up these ropes!" Jean used her telekinesis to loosen the knot on the ropes that bound her.

"Or I could just do this," Spiderman strained and used his strength to break the ropes that held him.

"That'll work too…" Jean said as he helped her with her ropes.

The Morlocks were stunned when the Lizard tackled Scaleface. Soon the two were fighting. "Lizard meets Lizard Lady," Spiderman quipped. "Sounds like a match made in heaven."

"Something tells me they're not really hitting it off," Jean said as the two fought.

Scaleface may have been the larger of the two combatants, but the Lizard was definitely the more powerful. He managed to throw Scaleface hard against the wall, knocking her out and causing her to revert to human form.

"It beat Scaleface!" Lucid screamed.

"Here we go again!" Spiderman groaned as he charged at the Lizard. "Dr. Connors we really have to stop doing this!"

"Dr. Connors?" Callisto asked as Jean levitated Scaleface out of the way.

"My teacher," Jean sighed. "He kind of mutated on me this morning."

"Your teacher turned into a lizard?" Callisto looked at her as they both grabbed Scaleface. "Are you X-Men under a curse or something?"

"I'm starting to think so," Jean sighed.

"Hello! Could use a little help here!" Spiderman shouted as he held the Lizard's jaws at bay.

Jean telekinetically threw the Lizard off. The Lizard quickly recovered and instead of attacking her, charged into the direction of several other Morlocks who barely escaped its jaws. The Lizard disappeared into another sewer. "There he goes again!" Spiderman grumbled.

"That thing is a menace!" Callisto gasped.

"Told you," Spiderman said. "Well look who finally showed up to the party."

Logan ran in with Scott, Kitty, Rogue, Bobby, Remyand Kurt behind him. "Jean! Are you okay?" Logan asked.

"Fine," Jean told them.

"What took you so long?" Spiderman asked them.

"It's not exactly easy tracking people down in the sewers you know?"Logan growled.

"Who are you?" Scottasked.

"You don't recognize me? I gotta get a better agent," Spiderman shook his head.

"It's Spiderman," Kitty said. "I remember you. What are you doing down here of all places?"

"Chasing Jean's science teacher who mutated into a giant lizard," He said matter of factly.

"I've heard of first days of school being eventful…" Bobby blinked.

"First day?" Callisto's jaw dropped. "Your teacher mutated into a monster on your **first day** of classes?"

"They are cursed," Lucid groaned.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY'RE NOT THERE?" Colonel Carmody screamed into the phone. He was thin and balding and had an uncanny resemblance to Frank Burns from the TV show MASH. "POWER, THE JOES AND THOSE DAMNED MUTIE FREAKS WERE SUPPOSED TO BE GUARDING THE PLACE UNTIL YOU SHOWED UP WITH THE TRANSPORT!"

"There's nobody here sir," The private on the phone said. "It looks like some kind of struggle took place."

"And the MAC?" Carmody's eyebrow twitched.

"Gone. What are your orders sir?"

"Stay there! Stay right there! Go over that place with a fine tooth comb if you have to! But don't leave! Just guard the place! Somebody has to come back sooner or later! And when they do, call me!" Carmody slammed the phone down.

"They're doing it again…" He grunted. "Those little Power Brats are doing it again! They did it to me before and now they are going to do it to me again! Oh no…Not this time. They're not going to get away from me this time! Okay so they foiled my plans about one or two dozen times, made me look crazy…Got my car impounded…twice. Toilet papered my lawn…And I know…I **know **they ate all my donuts the night of my big awards dinner. Well this time I am ready for them…"

He opened the door to his closet and grinned at the contents. "Oh yes, I've had this specially made to deal with those Power Punks. This will give those kids a spanking they will never forget. And nobody…NOBODY…Will ever call me crazy or eat my donuts again! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Okay, let's recap here," Shipwreck grumbled as he sat with his head on his hand. "Everybody here saw the big giant lizards right?"

"Yup," Roadblock said. The Joes and Dr. Power were in a futuristic looking cell. Dr. Power was still out cold.

"And that's definitely the moon out that window right?" Shipwreck asked as he pointed at a window.

"Yup," Roadblock said.

"And I'm definitely **not **drunk right?" Shipwreck asked.

"Yup," Roadblock confirmed.

"You're your usual sober self," Cover Girl told him. "Not that it's much different than your drunken self…"

"So either we've been captured by aliens or we are on a very realistic ride at Disney World," Shipwreck said.

"It's not Disney World," Spirit said. "It's not even Six Flags. How is Dr. Power?"

"He hit his head pretty hard, but he looks okay," Roadblock told them. "Just out cold."

"Then he's lucky," Cover Girl grumbled. "What do they want with us anyway?"

"Most likely they are interested in Dr. Power's inventions," Spirit thought. "The MAC for starters."

"You presume correctly, human," The Snark Commander spoke as he strode up to the cell with Skratt and two other Snark guards. "You inferior beings are now pawns of the Snark Empire."

"See Father how they cower before us," Skratt crowed.

"In your dreams," Cover Girl snarled.

"Take Power to the interrogation chamber," The Snark Commander ordered. "Soon we will have the information about the Antimatter device."

"Hell no, he ain't gonna go," Roadblock made a fist.

"I do not know what you are planning, but my instincts tell me it is not for a noble purpose," Spirit agreed.

"No, ya think?" Shipwreck asked sarcastically.

"And what will you do about it you stupid mammals?" Skratt sneered.

"This for one thing," Roadblock pulled out a grenade from his pocket and threw it right at the Snarks. "Fire in the hole!"

The Snarks blinked for a second before realizing they should move fast. They were nearly blown up along with their wall. It was more than enough to distract them. Roadblock and Spirit tackled the Snarks with the guns and clobbered them. Shipwreck grappled with Skratt and stepped on his tail.

"OWWWWW!" Skratt hopped around in agony.

"Enough!" The Snark Commander grabbed Cover Girl. "You female, as the weaker of the spe-ciiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeessss!"

Cover Girl deftly pulled out her mace with her free hand and squirted the Snark Commander in the eyes. He let go of her, clawing his eyes. "IT BURNS! IT BURNS!"

"And this hurts too!" She pulled out a taser and shocked him. "Shocking isn't it?"

"Hey!" Shipwreck was wrestling with Skratt. "You promised me you wouldn't bring that thing this time!" He kicked Skratt into the wall.

"Yeah like I'd really trust **you** not to make a pass at me," Cover Girl used it on Skratt.

"At the very least it'll remind you of Storm," Roadblock said as he knocked out the last Snark guard and took his weapon.

"Some superior beings," Cover Girl snorted as she looked at the unconscious aliens on the floor. "They weren't even smart enough to search us for weapons."

"I hate to admit it but when it comes to rumbling with reptiles, Cobra has a lot more style," Roadblock agreed.

"Uhhhh…" Dr. Power slowly woke up. "What…Where are we? What's going on?"

"We've been captured by space lizards," Shipwreck told him. "We're escaping now. Okay, you're all caught up. Time to run for our lives."

"WHAT?" Dr. Power shouted as Shipwreck grabbed him and they ran out of the cell. "What are those things?"

"Space lizards that want to drain your brain," Roadblock said as the Joes escaped. "When we get outta here we will explain."

"You mean **if** we get outta here!" Cover Girl noticed more Snarks. "We have company! Walking luggage at 2 O'clock!"

The Joes and Dr. Power ran dodging laser beams. "Run! Run! Run!" Roadblock ordered.

"We're running! We're running!" Shipwreck shouted.

"Which way?" Cover Girl shouted as she took one of the stolen ray guns and blasted after their pursuers.

"This way!" Shipwreck pointed to a slide in door. He managed to open it only to reveal a few dozen Snarks inside. "Whoops. Maybe not."

"Hey guys! Have a few on me!" Roadblock threw a few grenades into the room. He shut the door. "RUN!"

BOOM!

"Okay, in the future let's **not **let Shipwreck decide which direction we go," Cover Girl shouted as they dodged more angry Snarks shooting at them.

"How many grenades do you have left Roadblock?" Spirit shouted.

"Counting these two?" Roadblock threw some down the hall at more Snarks.

BOOM!

"None!" He shouted as they ran off.

"Fine! I'll use mine!" Spirit grabbed one from his belt and threw it at some more Snarks.

BOOM!

"This is insane!" Dr. Power screamed.

"Are you kidding?" Shipwreck looked at him. "This is nothing compared to what we do when we're on vacation!"

BOOM!

A pair of Snark arms still attached to a laser rifle skated across the floor. "All right!" Shipwreck grabbed the weapon and shook off the body parts. "Now I got one!"

"Goody for you..." Dr. Power felt quite queasy.

They came to a series of corridors. "Which way?" Roadblock asked.

"I have a plan," Spirit said. "Shipwreck which corridor would you choose?"

"This one," He pointed to the one on the left.

"Then we go this way," Spirit pointed to the one on the right and they took it.

"Look we gotta find the hanger," Cover Girl shouted as she shot another Snark. "This thing has gotta have one. Maybe we can hotwire a spaceship or something?"

"Beats hanging around waiting for our kids to save our butts," Shipwreck agreed. "Hey Power, your kids are mutants right? Maybe one of them could teleport our way out of here?"

"What did you say?" Dr. Power looked at Shipwreck.

"Uh, your kids? Their powers? Mutant powers? Any of that sound familiar?" Shipwreck asked.

"Are you drunk?" Dr. Power screamed at him.

"Smooth move Shipwreck," Cover Girl groaned as they ran.

"You sound like that maniac Carmody!" Dr. Power shouted. "My children are not mutants! I don't know why the military thinks that!"

"So they're not mutants?" Cover Girl asked.

"I think I would know if my children had any powers!" Dr. Power told them.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"YOU'RE A STUPID HEAD JACK!" Katie shouted. "IF YOU HADN'T BROKEN OUR LASERS WE'D HAVE BLASTED THOSE BAD GUYS BY NOW!"

"Just shut up and let me fly this thing!" Jack snapped at her as Friday dodged the Snark fighters.

"Now I **know** I'm gonna be sick…" Lance moaned.

"Still using evasive maneuvers…" Friday intoned. "However the percentage of us escaping unscathed is only point oh five percent."

"So the chances of us getting blasted to itty bitty bits are what? Ninety Nine?" Todd moaned.

"I am going to be **so** sick…." Lance moaned.

"No you're not," Pietro told him. "You'll probably be dead before you get a chance to be sick."

"Thanks Quicksilver!" Angelica shouted. "We so needed to hear that!"

"Now **I'm** gonna be sick…" Todd groaned.

"And I thought we fought a lot…" Alex groaned. "Oh no! We're in the sights of a Snark fighter! I can't shake him! I can't…"

They felt the vibrations of something exploding. "Are we dead yet?" Todd hid his face under his hands.

"No! It's the Calvary!" Althea pointed. It was the Misfits' spaceship blasting away.

Daria was piloting with Arcade as her co-pilot. "I love the smell of roasted starships in the morning!" She laughed.

"As long as we're not being roasted," Brittany told them as she helped with the computers.

"Man this is like I'm in Star Wars!" Arcade whooped. "I'm living my dream! WHAHOOO!"

"I'm glad **someone** is…" Lina held on for dear life.

"EAT LASERS SPACE ALIENS!" Spyder squealed.

"YEEEEEHHAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Quinn shouted as she blasted several Snark fighters.

"Way to go Trinity!" Todd whooped.

"Told you we had a spaceship," Pietro said smugly. "There's the hangar!"

The Misfit spaceship covered Friday as it piloted into the ship and landed. "And the Misfits have landed!" Todd crowed.

"Good…" Lance looked very pale as he stumbled out the door. The sound of throwing up could be heard.

"Come on," Althea said as they all left the spaceship. "We need to save the adults, get the MAC, kick some Snark tail and not step in the mess Avalanche made."

"I think we can handle that last one," Jack wrinkled his nose.

"I told you I was gonna be sick…" Lance moaned.

"STOP INTRUDERS!" Dozens of Snark warriors pointed their weapons at them.

"Plan?" Alex asked Althea.

"Whack the lizards," Althea growled as she pulled out a collapsible Bo staff.

"Good plan," Jack grinned as he changed to gaseous form. Soon the Misfits and Power Pack were tearing into the Snarks. Pietro and Julie zoomed around taking the weapons and knocking heads. Wanda used her hex bolts to zap the Snarks. Angelica and Katie fried them with their powers. Lance used his powers to shake up thefloor and cause the Snarks to fall down and have huge boxes fall on top of them. Fred, Althea, Todd and Xi used their fighting skills to beat them up. Alex forced several Snarks to fly and Jack confused many Snark fighters.

The Snarks didn't even last ten minutes. "Man these guys are pathetic," Pietro folded his arms.

"Well it's about time you kids showed up," Shipwreck shouted as the adults ran towards them.

"Traffic was murder," Althea told him. "How did you guys end up here?"

"We got time off for good behavior. What do you think?" Cover Girl told her.

"ALEX?" Dr. Power stood there in shock. He had watched his kids fighting. "Katie? Julie? Jack? How did you…? And where did you get…? And…And…"

"Uh, Hi Dad," Alex gulped. "Funny thing meeting you here."

Dr. Power's eyes widened and then he passed out. "He didn't know did he?" Shipwreck asked the Misfits.

"He does now," Fred remarked.

"We are so grounded," Jack groaned.

"We have bigger problems," Julie said. "The Snarks have the MAC and we gotta blow it up before they use it to blow up the Earth!"

"Say what?" Shipwreck asked as he picked up Dr. Power.

"This mission just became a whole lot harder didn't it?" Roadblock groaned.

**Next: More fighting, more explosions, more lizards! It's all good! **


	54. Bing Bang Zoom

**Bing Bang Zoom**

"THIS IS INTOLERABLE!" The Snark Commander screamed. He had somewhat recovered and had made his way to the control room. "How could we be overpowered by those…Those **mammals?"**

"It's bad enough the Power Pack makes fools of us," Skratt groaned. "But at least they have powers. Those other humans didn't have powers!"

"No, just some very powerful weapons…" One bandaged Snark guard moaned. "Who was supposed to search them for weapons anyway?"

"SKRATT!" The Snark Commander and the Guards glared at him.

"Uh…." Skratt gulped.

"Never mind!" The Snark Commander snarled. "Look we still have the Antimatter device safely in our science lab. Those humans are still in the hangar so if we can just contain them until we get our hyperdrive online, we can go back to the Mother World and get reinforcements."

"We're gonna need 'em," One Snark systems operator pointed. "Fifty eight percent of our fleet has been destroyed."

"WHAT?" The Snark Commander shouted. "HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE? YOU SAID THE SMARTSHIP'S WEAPONS WERE OFF LINE AND IT WAS IN THE HANGAR!"

"They are. A second alien vessel has appeared and is now fighting our fleet," The Snark Operator told him.

"Are you telling me that our entire fleet is being decimated by only one ship?" Skratt gasped.

"How is that possible?" The Snark Commander screamed. "THAT'S JUST NOT POSSIBLE!"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"And they thought I was crazy when I used to spend fourteen hours a day during summer vacation perfecting level 20 of Zombie Aliens Attack…" Arcade chuckled as he fired on the lasers. "WELL WHO'S CRAZY NOW? HUH? HUH?"

"Fourteen hours?" Brittany asked as she fired. "It only took us seven to get to that level."

"I'm so glad we got this upgrade," Quinn said. She was sitting in a pod on the roof with lasers. "Now four of us can fire the laser guns at the same time."

"I love these new revolving turrets," Spyder shouted. "I can shoot lasers all day! BAM! I got one! I got one! I got an alien!"

"That's nice…" Lina groaned as she manned the computers as best she could. "What does the blue button do again?"

"We haven't a clue," Brittany said. "Try it!"

"Are you crazy? It might be the self destruct button!" Lina said.

"Nah we disabled that a long time ago," Daria flew the ship. "I think…"

"You **think?"** Lina shouted. "Then there's **no way** I'm going to touch it!"

"That's okay," Quinn stopped firing for a second and hopped down. "**I'll **do it!"

"NO!" Lina couldn't stop her in time.

As she hit the button the ship started to glow brightly. It moved faster and created a strange force field. The force field grew bigger and it nearly cut through every fighter that touched it. "Cool," Quinn said. "It made it into one big weapon."

"We can cut through these things like a hot knife through butter," Arcade whooped. "WHO'S YOUR DADDY NOW?"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Fleet is now down to 49 percent," The Snark Operator continued. "47 percent, 45 percent…40 percent…"

"By the Queen Mother…" The Snark Commander put his hand on his face in shame.

"Thirty eight percent…" The Snark Operator went on. "Thirty seven…Thirty six…"

"THAT'S QUITE ENOUGH!" The Snark Commander shouted. "How much longer until the warp drive is online?"

"Twenty seven minutes sir," A Snark underling spoke.

"Can't it be done any faster?" Skratt snapped.

"Sure it can," The Snark Commander droned. "As long as you don't mind arriving at our homeworld in a **thousand pieces! **Have you learned nothing from your training? Warp drives need to maintain a constant temperature or else they become extremely volatile!"

"I…uh, forgot," Skratt gulped.

"By the Great Egg if you were not my **only **male heir…" The Snark Commander massaged his temple. "Grandmother was right, I should have taken your sister instead! At least she knows how to listen!"

"You always liked her better than me," Skratt frowned.

"THAT'S BECAUSE SHE'S NOT A CONSTANT SCREW UP!" The Snark Commander snapped.

"Uh, Commander," A Snark Underling coughed. "Begging your pardon sir but we seem to have a problem."

"Other than the fact that my fleet is being decimated by a single ship, the prisoners are loose and I am surrounded by incompetents?" The Snark Commander snapped.

"Uh, yes…" The underling gulped. "Reports are coming in that now some of the mammals are moving further into the ship towards the Science lab."

"Of course they are…." The Snark Commander groaned. "All right, I want two teams. Half of them come with me to the Science lab where the MAC is. Every other available soldier is to go to the hangar and prevent that ship from leaving! Understand?"

"Twenty six percent…" The Snark Operator continued. "Twenty five percent…Twenty three percent…"

"AND SOMEONE BLOW UP THAT SHIP OUT THERE!" The Snark Commander shouted. "What I wouldn't give for a good Mephitozoid ale right now…"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Boy our Dad's really gonna be mad at us now," Jack groaned. Several of the Misfits, Joes and Power Pack were making their way to the Science lab. "Not only did he find out about our powers, when he hears we blew up his latest project again he's gonna ground us for life."

The team consisted of Roadblock, Alex, Jack, Pietro, Althea, Todd, Wanda, Spirit and Angelica. The others were back at the hangar protecting Friday and Dr. Power.

"We don't have time to think about that," Alex told him looking at a strange watch. "According to these blueprints of the Snark Mothership Friday downloaded the science lab should be close by."

"Are you sure this thing is too dangerous to take back?" Roadblock asked him.

"It blew up a whole planet," Alex told him.

"Yeah I'd qualify that as dangerous," Pietro remarked as he zipped back to them. "Bunch of handbags dead ahead."

"Get the human scum!" Several Snarks charged at them.

"Now that's insulting," Pietro zoomed back and stole their weapons. "Some of us are mutants."

"Same difference," Shipwreck punched out a Snark guard.

"At least they don't hate us because we're mutants," Wanda said as she hexed the remaining Snarks.

"Snarks just hate everybody," Alex told him as he levitated the stunned Snarks and threw them against the wall.

"Hey wait a minute," Shipwreck thought. "How come we can understand what they're saying?"

"Universal translator duh," Jack told him. "They wear it on their uniforms. Even my little sister knows that!"

"Come on! We don't have much time!" Althea said as she kicked a Snark guard.

"Relax Wavedancer," Todd told her. "All we gotta do is beat up a bunch of evil lizard space aliens, wreck the MAC and get out butts out of here. How hard could that be?"

Meanwhile back at the ship Dr. Power was waking up. "Honey I think we have another earthquake…" He muttered as he sat up. "I gotta go check my instruments."

"That's Avalanche Daddy," Katie told him. "Some more Snarks are trying to attack the ship. Mr. Blob, Mr. Xi, Miss Cover Girl and Julie are out there helping him beat them up."

"Oh that's nice…" Dr. Power groaned. Then he woke up. "WHAT?" He then realized he was inside a starship. "Oh God it wasn't a dream!"

"Greetings Dr. Power," Friday spoke. "It is good to see you are awake."

"Who said that?" Dr. Power looked around.

"Friday," Katie said matter of factly.

"Who is Friday?" Dr. Power looked at Katie.

"Our smart ship," She told him simply. "See we got him from Whitey when we got our powers."

"Who's Whitey?" Dr. Power asked.

"He was an alien horse," Katie said.

"An alien horse?" Dr. Power blinked. "You got a starship and powers from an alien **horse?"**

"Friday's a smart ship not a star ship," Katie corrected.

"Of course…" Dr. Power could not believe he was having this conversation. His eyes widened when he saw his oldest daughter fly by the window. "Honey…Did you know Julie could fly?"

"Yeah she makes pretty rainbows," Katie said. "Look what I can do!" She made a small ball of high-powered energy between her hands. "I can make these energy balls to zap people! Cool huh?"

"Yeah…" Dr. Power nodded and then passed out again.

The next thing he knew Cover Girl was giving him smelling salts. "Dr. Power I know you're under a lot of pressure, but we really need you to pull yourself together here!"

"What…What?" He sat up. To his surprise hovering over him was the face of a young gray girl hanging upside down from the wall.

"I guess I didn't need to zap him," Spyder said.

"What the…?" Dr. Power gasped. "Who…?"

"This is Spyder, one of the Misfits," Cover Girl explained. "Spyder please get off the wall."

"She came in her own space ship!" Katie said excitedly. "And she blew up all the Snarks in the hangar and made them run away."

"It's not **her** space ship," Daria said. She and Quinn were there. "It's the Misfits' spaceship."

"You have a space ship too?" Dr. Power blinked. "What? Does every kid in America have one now?"

"Dr. Power please, we need you to focus," Cover Girl told him. "We need to figure out how to shut down the MAC."

"If you don't tell us how to stop it, we'll all blow up," Quinn said.

"Blow up?" Dr. Power yelled as he stood up.

"There is a flaw in your design," Friday spoke. "The MAC is unstable and if not turned off correctly the chances of our destruction are 95 percent as well as that of your moon."

"What?" Dr. Power yelled.

"Apparently when our team went to recover the device it got…Turned on," Cover Girl coughed. "And we can't shut it off."

"How did **that** happen?" Dr. Power shouted.

In the Snark science lab…

"You just had to use your slime didn't you, Toad?" Shipwreck winced as he looked at the controls of the MAC. Several Snarks were moaning in pain on the floor. "Oh man this stuff has gunked up all the systems."

"I was aiming for the Snarks!" Todd shouted. "I'm not the one who turned it on."

"Oh sure, blame the girl with the hex bolts…" Wanda groaned.

"Not to mention the bad aim," Pietro snapped.

"My aim would have been fine if **you** hadn't knocked into me!" Wanda snapped at her brother.

"I was trying to put out the fire **she** made," Pietro pointed to Angelica.

"How was I supposed to know those vials had explosive chemicals in them?" Angelic snapped. "It's not like I can read Snark labels! Besides, Wavedancer's the one who made the fire even bigger."

"I could have sworn this thing looked like a fire extinguisher," Althea held the object in her hands. "I mean what kind of sickos put some kind of gasoline inside a fire extinguisher?"

"You've obviously never spent any time around Pyro," Wanda groaned.

Roadblock spoke into his communicator. "Cover Girl is Dr. Power awake? I don't know how much longer of this I can take!"

Meanwhile the Snark Commander was regaining consciousness. The last thing he remembered was a huge fire and a foot hitting his face. "Ow…" He rubbed his snout. "By the Egg how much did I drink?"

"Hey you guys are on TV!" He heard a chipper young voice say. He looked up and one of the communications monitors was turned on, revealing more mammals including two more of the Power Pack.

"Uh Dr. Power we kind of have a little situation here," Roadblock said.

"All right! That's is it! You mammals better surrender or…" He stood up with his weapon pointed at them. The other Snarks recovered just in time to see their Commander look shocked. "What is that noise?"

"The MAC," Pietro pointed.

"You mammals turned it **on?"** The Snark Commander's jaw dropped. "Without using any safety protocols?"

"Uh…" Todd looked at the smoldering device. "Maybe?"

"Are you **insane?"** The Snark Commander screamed.

"You do know this thing once blew up a whole planet right?" Skratt yelled.

"Well we do now," Pietro blinked.

"It **what?"** Dr. Power yelled.

"Uh is it a bad thing when this little red light keeps blinking on and off?" Todd asked, pointing to it.

"The little red light on the thermal dynamic regulator?" Dr. Power asked.

"The big blue box thingy?" Todd looked at it. It started to smoke. "Oh…That can't be good."

"No it is definitely not," The Snark Commander gasped.

"It's going to blow isn't it?" Shipwreck gulped.

"Let me put it to you this way, Snarks…RETREAT!" The Snark Commander screamed. "EVACUATE THE SHIP NOW!"

"But the humans…" Skratt began.

"FORGET THE STUPID HUMANS! JUST RUN!" The Snark Commander shouted as they ran off. "HEAD FOR THE ESCAPE PODS! NOW!"

"Okay I think we must be going," Shipwreck gulped. "Everybody got their teleportation watches on?"

"Those who don't hold hands with a buddy," Pietro grabbed Jack's hand. The Misfits and Joes teleported back to the ship.

"Okay we all gotta go! This ship is gonna blow!" Roadblock ordered.

"Where's Brittany?" Cover Girl looked around. "And Arcade?"

"I thought they were with you?" Lina asked.

Just then the two of them teleported in. "We're back!" Brittany chirped.

"Where have you two been?" Spirit asked. The ship jostled. "What's going on?"

"We just had to change course a little so the ship will blow up farther away," Arcade said.

"I got some neat stuff too!" Brittany held a Snark jacket. "I think it's too big for me."

"But how…?" Dr. Power gasped.

"Never ask how it's done, just get in our ships and run!" Roadblock ordered. The Joes jumped in their starship with Trinity and Arcade. The rest of the Misfits stayed inside Friday and the two ships took off.

"This is intolerable!" The Snark Commander shouted as his escape ship flew off with Skratt and two other guards inside. "Well at least we have enough fuel to get back to the home world."

"Uh about that Father," Skratt coughed. "You know how you told me to fuel the escape ships the other day?"

"Yes…" The Snark Commander glared at him, not liking where this was going.

"I sort of…forgot," Skratt gulped.

"Oh Frinklesnitts!" The Snark Commander swore in his language.

A minute later…

BOOOM!

The Snark Mothership blew up in a huge blast. Several pieces of debris blew out. Some of it hit Friday and it spiraled down to Earth. "Hang on!" Julie shouted. "We're going down and we're going hard!"

"I'm gonna be sick again!" Lance cried.

"Me too!" Dr. Power shouted.

Meanwhile down on Earth, Mrs. Power had returned home early to find several soldiers surrounding her house preventing her from going inside. "What is going on?" Mrs. Power shouted. "Where's my husband? And where are my children?"

"Sorry lady," The Army private said. "We have no…idea?"

That's when a spaceship crash-landed right into the Power's back yard. "HOLY CRAP!" The Private shouted.

"Don't shoot!" Pietro popped out of the ship. "We come in peace!"

"Better than coming in pieces…" Jack had temporarily turned into vapor because he was startled.

Alex floated out. "Good thing Friday has air bags."

Dr. Power staggered out of the ship. "I can't believe we survived…I can't believe we survived…"

"James?" Mrs. Power gasped.

"Margaret…" Dr. Power blinked. "You're home early."

"Is everybody okay?" Julie flew outside.

"Julie?" Mrs. Power gasped. "Alex? Jack?"

"Uh…" Julie stopped mid air. "Mom?"

"We are so busted…." Jack groaned.

"Hi Mommy!" Katie waved. "Guess what we did?"

"Oh my god…" Mrs. Power gasped. Then she fainted.

"Boy your folks sure faint a lot," Spyder remarked to Katie.


	55. Trying To Mend Some Fences

**Trying To Mend Fences**

"Oh man they are still in there," Pietro had his ear next to the door. The Misfits were listening in on the conversation from another room in the Power house.

"At least the mom stopped screaming," Angelica said.

"That's because they gave her a sedative," Wanda said. "She's out like a light."

"Thank god we were able to come up with a cover story about Power inventing some new aircraft for the military," Althea groaned. "And the Press bought it." She looked outside and saw several military police protecting the house, keeping it cordoned off from the reporters.

"Too bad we couldn't do anything for the kids, I mean keep their secret from the military," Pietro said.

"What a way to get outed," Lance sighed. "I feel awful for those poor kids."

"They were only trying to protect their folks," Todd looked sad. "Do you think they'll throw 'em out?"

"They wouldn't do that! Would they?" Angelica was shocked.

"It's happened before," Lina replied sadly.

"So what's going to happen to them?" Todd asked.

"Spirit got on the horn to Hawk and he's talking with some big wigs," Althea said. "It could go any way now."

"Well at least we saved the planet," Lina said weakly.

"Then why do I feel like we lost?" Lance asked.

"HOW COULD YOU KEEP THIS A SECRET FROM US?" Dr. Power could be heard screaming.

Shipwreck and Cover Girl walked into the room. "Is he still…?" Cover Girl began.

"Freaking out?" Lance asked.

"MY GOD! HOW COULD WE **NOT** NOTICE ALL OF THIS?" Dr. Power yelled.

"Yeah," Lance winced.

"I never should have opened up my mouth. I feel like the biggest rat in the world," Shipwreck groaned.

"Nah you're only the third or fourth biggest rat in the world," Cover Girl said. "But to be fair, I think seeing that spaceship crash into the back yard would have tipped them off anyway."

"YES, JACK YOU ARE GROUNDED!" Dr. Power opened up the door and yelled at his kids. "AND DON'T ASK ME HOW LONG!" He stormed out.

"Uh…" Shipwreck hesitated. "I think I got this one." He followed Dr. Power.

The Misfit kids peeked in. Katie was crying. Jack looked mad. Julie and Alex looked upset. "You kids okay?" Fred asked.

"We just got yelled at and grounded," Katie sobbed as she collapsed in Julie's arms. "Do we **look** okay to you?"

"Come on," Althea said. "It's not that bad."

"Not that bad? Are you crazy? How can you say that?" Jack exploded. "Our parents know all about our powers and it's all your fault!"

"Hey!" Pietro snapped. "I think the Snarks had quite a bit to do with that!"

"Yeah but if you guys didn't show up our folks would never have found out about all this!" Jack shouted.

"But Dad would still have been kidnapped," Alex told him. "He probably would have found out anyway. Maybe we should have told them a long time ago?"

"Does this mean Daddy doesn't love us anymore?" Katie sniffled.

"Oh no honey," Cover Girl went down to her level. "You're Daddy's just angry and upset. He still loves you."

"Are you sure?" Katie asked.

"Hey we know about yelling," Todd said. "Trust us, we're experts on the subject."

"At least he didn't call you monsters and disown you on the spot," Lina grumbled.

"Being grounded is a good sign," Pietro said. "It means they at least want you to stick around."

"Do you really believe that?" Jack looked at him.

"No I'm just grasping at straws," Pietro said.

"Freddy," Lance groaned. "It's your turn."

"Okay," Fred took a magazine from the bed, rolled it up and thwacked Pietro on the head. "Bad Quicksilver! Bad Quicksilver!"

Meanwhile downstairs in the kitchen, Dr. Power was having a beer with Shipwreck. "I must be the worst father in the history of the world…" He moaned.

"Please, " Shipwreck waved. "You're not even **close** to that title. Trust me, I've seen some real winners."

"It's all so obvious now," Dr. Power took off some pictures from the refrigerator. "Look at these! These are pictures Katie drew. There's Julie flying with a rainbow behind her. Jack as a cloud. A starship. Oh look, here's a weird looking horse fighting some giant lizards! If **this** isn't a sign I don't know **what **is!"

"Oh come on," Shipwreck said. "This doesn't mean anything. She's six. When my daughter was that age she was drawing pictures of herself as a ninja princess on flying unicorns. And they weren't true! Well…the flying unicorn parts anyway."

"All those times the kids were late or said they had a 'special project' to do…" Dr. Power moaned. "That they knew stuff about my inventions before even I did!"

"Kids are just naturally good with machines, mine are," Shipwreck said.

"The news reports of four kids with powers stopping crimes in the city? One of which had blonde pigtails?"

"Coincidence! A lot of girls have that very same hairstyle," Shipwreck tried to make him feel better. "That doesn't prove you were oblivious to what was going on. It just means the kids were very good at keeping secrets."

"The time the Fantastic Four showed up at our campsite when we were vacationing?" Dr. Power looked at him.

Shipwreck thought. "Okay that last one does sound a little weird," He admitted.

"And Carmody…I always thought he was a lunatic! Now he sounds saner than I am! Part of me is furious with myself," Dr. Power threw up his hands. "It's because of my invention that my children's lives are…If I had never invented the MAC my children would never have been exposed to…God…What have I done?"

"Listen," Shipwreck put his hand on Dr. Power's shoulder. "Believe me, I know **exactly** what you're going through. It's normal for you to freak out. When my son was born with **flippers** I know I did!"

"Flippers?" Dr. Power blinked.

"Yeah flippers," Shipwreck said. "And my loving wife, who was mutated already couldn't handle it either. Especially when my eldest daughter's other powers were emerging. Long story short…She left. And as much as it hurt me, it hurt my kids ten times more!"

He sat down next to him. "When my wife divorced me, it nearly destroyed us. I had to hold it together but couldn't. At first anyway. When I realized my daughter was forced to become a mother to her own sisters and brother all on her own…I felt like an even worse failure than I did before."

"My God…What did you do?"

"What I had to do. I bit the bullet and took a desk job just so I could be there for my kids more. Look pal," Shipwreck looked him in the eye. "Those kids need you now. You gotta look past their powers and see them for the kids they are. You gotta be their dad, get what I'm saying?"

"Yeah I got it," Dr. Power sighed. "And now I am going to get it. Once that sedative wears of my wife is going to kill me."

"We're gonna need some more beers," Shipwreck looked at the bottle he was holding.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Meanwhile back in the Morlock Tunnels…

"I can't believe we've been down here nearly all day and still no action," Bobby grumbled as the team of X-Men, Morlocks and Spider Man searched the sewers. "And worst of all we gotta baby sit the Morlocks."

"**What** did you say?" Callisto got in his face. "The Morlocks need no help from outsiders!"

"Oh really? You didn't exactly do that well back there with the Lizard," Bobby grumbled.

"We got scared! Is that okay with you?" Lucid snapped. "You know not every mutant spends all his free time fighting with everyone!"

"You better watch your mouth X-Man…" Callisto made a fist. "Before someone shuts it permanently."

"Bobby, when are you gonna learn to keep your big mouth shut?" Rogue grumbled. She turned to the Morlocks. "Ignore him. We do it all the time."

"Callisto," Jean said. "I know things haven't exactly been easy between our two teams."

"No, they haven't," She looked at her. "Considering the fact that nearly every time our two groups meet, **we **either end up in a firefight or someone from our group goes missing. I'm surprised there are any Morlocks left!"

"Hey! We're not the ones who keep getting into fights with the police and the entire world!" Scott snapped.

"Not exactly a good choice of words Cyclops," Kitty rolled her eyes. "But you guys are way too hard core."

"It's called survival you little piece of fluff," Scaleface snapped. "Something you soft upworlders have no idea about!"

"Are you crazy?" Rogue snapped. "Our lives aren't exactly a walk in the park you know? You try being a target for every terrorist group and maniac out there day after day!"

"Not to mention all the news media," Kitty added. "Every time something mutant related happens in the world, **we** get protestors at our gates!"

"And **we** get people with guns hunting us down!" Lucid snapped. "It's bad enough with Magneto sniffing around and trying to recruit us but…"

"What's that?" Scott asked.

"Nothing," Callisto cut Lucid silent with a look. "It's none of your business."

"Magneto is the X-Men's biggest enemy," Logan said. "Anything he does is our business!"

"Well you gotta admit he's done a hell of a lot more for us than you people," Cybelle growled.

"Cybelle…" Callisto warned.

"No, let her talk," Scott said. "I want to hear this."

"Oh the great and mighty X-Men permit me, a lowly Morlock to speak," Cybelle sneered. "How gracious of you."

"Listen you," Logan growled. "You're lucky we don't drag you to the cops for that poison you gave Spyke so he could kill Spears."

"I had no idea of what he was planning," Cybelle said sweetly. "He said he needed it to get rid of some rats."

"Oh I'll bet…" Logan snorted. "No wonder you're ready to join Magneto."

"No one is joining Magneto," Callisto said.

"But you are in contact with him," Scott said.

"It's no big deal," Scaleface said. "Scatty comes down every now and then bringing food and medical supplies. That's all."

"Gifts from Magneto?" Logan folded his arms. "I thought Morlocks didn't take charity."

"It's not charity if you're willing to give something in return," Callisto told him. "The supplies are merely Magneto's way of opening talks."

"Are you saying Magneto's been trying to recruit the Morlocks and you're letting him?" Scott asked.

"What I am doing is **negotiating** the best deal I can make for my people!" Callisto got in his face. "Who the hell are you to pass judgement on us you prissy little…"

"WILL ALL OF YOU SHUT UP?" Spider Man shouted. Everyone stopped. "In case you've all forgotten there's a mutated lizard man running wild in the tunnels. Sooner or later he'll hurt either one of you Morlocks or someone in the city. And if you thought mutants had image problems before…Do I really need to draw you a picture here?"

"He's right," Callisto said. "This bickering is pointless."

"Taking the Lizard down should be our top priority," Scott admitted. "We need to forget our differences and work together. You Morlocks know these tunnels better than anyone, where do you think the Lizard will go next?"

"Pick a tunnel, any tunnel," Caliban grunted as he pointed to three tunnels ahead of him.

"Can't you track him down?" Kitty asked. "Isn't that like your power?"

"My power only extends to mutants," Caliban informed her. "Those with an X-Gene. I can sense if someone is a mutant or not close by, but artificial mutations…Not exactly my specialty."

"But my tracking skills are," Callisto looked at the ground. "This one."

"She's right," Logan said. "I can tell by the stench. Wait…Someone else is here too."

They didn't get far when they came to a large opening in the tunnels. To their shock they saw the Lizard going toe to toe with a large man with a black beard, wavy black hair and wearing an outfit made out of animal skins. "Now what's going on?" Lucid groaned. "Who is that nut?"

"Oh goody," Spider Man groaned. "Kraven the Hunter. "This just makes my day complete."

"Who?" Logan asked.

"Sorry guys, another one of my villains just popped in," Spider Man explained. "Kraven is this big time game hunter on super steroids. His favorite target is your local friendly neighborhood Spider Man."

"So why is he down here fighting the Lizard?" Jean asked.

"He's probably hunting mutants," Callisto snapped. "Like everyone else that comes down here!"

"What is this?" Lucid groaned. "It seems like every super powered maniac in the city is coming down into the sewers to bother us!"

"Well you never know who you'll run into in this business," Spider Man groaned.

**Next: Both story lines conclude with a bang! Really. I promise. **


	56. An Explosive Ending or Two

**An Explosive Ending or Two**

"Never has Kraven had such a marvelous hunt!" Kraven laughed as he fought the Lizard. "You will make a marvelous trophy Morlock!"

"Okay in the first place, **that** is **not** a Morlock!" Callisto shouted as the X-Men and Morlocks emerged from the shadows. "This is! Tar Baby! Now!"

The mutant known as Tar Baby shot out several glomps of tar that stuck Kraven to the wall. "Nice shot," Spider Man admired. "Makes my webbing look pretty shabby."

"SPIDERMAN! HOW DARE YOU INTERFERE WITH MY HUNT YOU…MMPPH!" Kraven shouted but Spider Man used his webbing to silence him.

"Can't you hunt something like Beanie Babies or whatever the next great toy fad is?" Spider Man asked him. "How are you guys doing with the Lizard?"

Jean managed to hold him long enough for Scott to blast him against the wall. The Lizard fell unconscious to the ground. "No problems," Scott said.

"Too bad we couldn't do that earlier," Jean said. "Look!"

"He's changing back," Kitty remarked. Soon the Lizard was gone and the one armed Dr. Connors was lying there wearing only torn pants.

"He's human again," Jean said.

"Yeah but for how long?" Spider Man groaned.

"Oh…" Dr. Connors moaned. "Where am I?"

"In our sewers causing trouble!" Callisto snapped.

"Let's just say you changed into something a lot less comfortable for our tastes," Spider Man told him.

"No…" Dr. Connors moaned. "I've been trying so hard, but that creature…"

"It's okay Dr. Connors," Jean said gently. "It's over now."

"I'm afraid not," Dr. Connors said. "I need treatment for my…condition. Spider Man remember what I told you about Stark Genetic Research?"

"Yeah they had people who knew about your…condition," Spider Man sighed. "Let me guess, you want me to take you there?"

"I need help to cure me of this…monster inside," Dr. Connors sighed. "And that is the best place to do it."

"Normally I wouldn't recommend any type of 'cure' for mutations," Scott frowned. "But considering this is an artificial mutation that is extremely dangerous…"

"Yes we have enough trouble with **real** mutants thank you very much," Callisto took out her knife and pointed it at Kraven. "Not to mention flatscan scum like this…"

"Whoa lady," Spider Man stopped her. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Getting rid of one less mutant hunter," Callisto snapped.

"You can't just kill him!" Kitty said.

"He had no problems trying to kill us!" Lucid snapped. Several Morlocks agreed.

"We need to teach those who hunt us a lesson," Callisto snarled.

"Like you did back in Bayville?" Logan growled.

"What are you going to do with him?" Callisto challenged. "Tell the police he was hunting mutants! Yeah! That'll work!"

"If it will make you feel any better he's already got a few outstanding warrants for his arrest," Spider Man told them. "Poaching, attempted murder, vandalizing a zoo…"

"A zoo?" Rogue asked.

"Long story," Spider Man said. "Don't ask."

Callisto looked at them. "Take them and go," She ordered. With a gesture the Morlocks turned and went back into the shadows.

"You're welcome," Bobby said sarcastically.

"If you really want to help the Morlocks, stay out of our sewers!" Caliban told him.

"Real friendly folk aren't they?" Spider Man asked.

"As much as I hate to say it, I can't blame 'em for feeling the way they do," Rogue sighed. She motioned to Kraven. "I guess we'd better cut down this slimeball and deliver him to the cops."

"While you do that, tell them I had a hand in helping catch him, again!" Spider Man said. "I'll take the Doc to Stark Genetics. I know some of the scientists there. They can help him."

"I'm sorry Jean," Dr. Connors sighed. "It looks like I won't be able to teach you anymore this semester."

"Actually Dr. Connors I learned a **lot** about neogenics today," Jean sighed. "More than I planned on."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Meanwhile back at the Power Household…

"I just can't believe all of this…" Mrs. Power was still in shock. "How could this happen to us? We were a **normal** family! How could this happen?" The Misfits and the Joes were with the Powers in the living room.

"We didn't exactly plan to be superheroes Mom," Alex said. "It just sort of happened."

"It's been sort of happening for over a year now!" Dr. Power looked at him. "Why didn't you ever tell us? That's what I want to know!"

"Well, you know what happens in the comics," Jack struggled. "If people know your secret identify, the bad guys come after you."

"We were just protecting you," Julie said.

"The bad guys also go after the families even if they don't know," Katie thought aloud. "That happens a lot in comics."

"Not now Katie…" Alex groaned.

"Okay first of all, this is real life," Dr. Power said. "You kids could have gotten hurt when you were all running around…or flying around out there doing…I have no **idea** what you were doing! I thought I knew you kids, but I don't know anything at **all **about you!"

"Mom, Dad we're still the same people…" Julie protested. "We…."

BOOM!

"What the hell…?" Roadblock yelled. The door had burst open. There was Colonel Carmody wearing a strange black and silver outfit and holding some weird guns.

"We tried to stop him sir!" A private shouted before Carmody turned around and whacked him.

"SHUT UP!" He screamed. "I knew it! I knew I wasn't crazy! I knew you Power kids were mutie freaks!"

"Actually they're not really mutants…" Shipwreck began.

"Shut up sailor boy!" Carmody snarled at him. "I was right! I was right! I was right! And now I am going to enjoy every moment of this!"

"Oh man he's snapped," Alex groaned.

"I think this is one of the reasons why your kids didn't tell you," Lance said as he looked at the Powers.

"Beware the wrath of…The Bogeyman!" Carmody laughed as he shot his lasers at them. "Because I am your worst nightmare!"

Fortunately he was also the worst shot. None of them were hurt as they dived out of the way, but he did blow up several objects. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!" Carmody laughed. "Say hello to my little friends! He he…I'm gonna put you to bed permanently!" He aimed at Julie and Katie.

"GET AWAY FROM MY KIDS YOU JERK!" Mrs. Power leapt forward pummeled Carmody with her purse.

"OW! OW! OW!" Carmody screamed.

"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH MY BABIES YOU MONSTER!" Mrs. Power kept hitting him.

"OW! OW! OW! STOP IT! OW!" Carmody shouted. Finally he shoved Mrs. Power down.

"You can't hurt my Mommy!" Katie shouted. She created a huge energy ball and blasted Carmody so hard he flew through the window.

"That's it! You're all dead! All of you!" Carmody screamed as the Power Pack and Misfits went outside to challenge him.

Just then a long black car pulled up. "Oh brought reinforcements huh?" Carmody's eye twitched as he aimed his laser.

"Don't do it Carmody!" Shipwreck shouted.

"Don't tell me what I can't do!" Carmody shouted as he opened fire on the car.

"CARMODY YOU MANIAC, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Hawk shouted as he dived out of the car right before it blew up.

Fortunately the driver and the other occupant of the car managed to get out as well. Carmody didn't care. He stood there and laughed. "Yes! I love the smell of burnt cars in the morning! I am victorious! I am the Bogeyman! I am…"

"In a lot of trouble, soldier!" The other occupant of the car growled.

"Oh boy…" Carmody blinked when he saw exactly who it was.

General Whithalf picked his smoldering hat off the ground. "You shot my hat…" he growled at Carmody.

Whatever else Carmody was, he was still a soldier in the army. Instinctively he stopped firing and saluted. "Sir! Sorry sir! I…"

"You…Shot…My…HAT!" General Whithalf looked furious.

"Uh oh…" Roadblock gulped.

"YOU BLEW UP MY CAR!" General Whithalf snarled.

"Oh boy…" Todd winced.

"YOU NEARLY KILLED US YOU MANIAC!" General Whithalf screamed.

"This is gonna be ugly," Shipwreck gulped.

"Uh, should we take out Carmody now?" Alex whispered.

"No, I don't think that's necessary. I think the General has this one pretty much covered," Althea winced.

"CARMODY YOU UNMITIGATED PATETIC PIECE OF CRAP!" General Whithalf shouted in his face. "JUST WHAT IN THE BLOODY BLUE BLAZES DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?"

"G-General?" Carmody gulped. "S-sir I was…"

"YOU WERE COMPLETELY OUT OF LINE!" Whithalf shouted. "NO WONDER GENERAL HAWK HAD TO CALL ME OUT HERE! YOU BRAINLESS…"

He stopped and looked at the shocked Powers and the Misfits. "Oh hello there, I'm General Whithalf. Sorry about the mess. I'll be with you shortly. Would you mind taking the children inside please? I need to have some words here with Carmody and I don't think they are appropriate for their age group."

"Okay everybody inside!" Roadblock ordered turning the kids around and scooting them into the house. "We'll go and wait while the Generals chew on Carmody's hide."

"But we wanna see…" Jack began.

"No you **don't,"** Cover Girl said sternly. "Inside now!" Immediately everyone went inside where they couldn't hear. Everyone but Shipwreck and he immediately went in after a few minutes.

"Man and I thought I knew how to swear…" He winced. "He was using terms and words even **I'm** squeamish to say!"

"Trust us, that's bad," Lance peeked outside the window. "Woah! I didn't know General Hawk could kick a person that far!"

"That's nothing compare to how far Whithalf put his shoe up Carmody's…" Fred added.

"That's **enough **boys!" Cover Girl told them.

"Note to self…" Pietro gulped. "**Never **make that man mad."

"Yeah General W don't get mad that hard but when he does…" Roadblock looked out and winced. "He's kicking Carmody's butt all over the yard!"

"Kids I don't think Colonel Carmody will be bothering you for a while," Shipwreck told the Power Pack. "He's going to be in the hospital for a long time!"

About half an hour and a military ambulance later….

"Madam I cannot express to you how sorry I am for this incident," General Whithalf was his charming self again. "Naturally we will pay for the damages to your property."

"Actually Carmody will be paying," Hawk grinned. "For a very long time."

"I think I'm starting to understand why you kids never told us," Mrs. Power groaned. "Maybe you had a point."

"So what's going to happen to us now?" Julie asked.

"We've had a few words with a few friends upstairs," Hawk said. "I had to pull a few strings but I think I've come up with a solution. Dr. Power it's obvious your inventions are very powerful."

"Powerful enough to attract the attention of a couple alien civilizations," Dr. Power grumbled.

"So naturally you would need security," Hawk grinned at the Power Pack. "Special security."

"You mean us?" Jack asked. "Sweet!"

"I can't think of anyone more qualified," Hawk told them.

"So we can still be the Power Pack?" Katie asked. "We don't have to go into the army?"

"A couple times a year it would be a good idea if you kids took some special training courses," Hawk said. "The Misfits could help train you."

"Oh man…" Pietro groaned. "You mean we gotta baby sit them?"

"I'm not so sure who would be babysitting who," Spirit grinned wryly.

"Can we still fight the bad guys who try to rob people around town?" Julie asked.

"Uh, we'll see…" Dr. Power groaned.

"Let's just take this one day at a time," Mrs. Power told her. "We're still not used to the idea of you all being…able to do what you can do."

"What about Friday?" Alex pointed to the troopers surrounding the smart ship in the backyard. "Can we still keep him?"

"To be honest I don't know," Hawk said. "It might be in the best interests if we figured out how Friday works."

"Unless you had something better to study?" Arcade perked up.

"Like what?" Hawk asked.

"What about this data I got on the Snarks and their spaceship?" Brittany took out a small disk. "Will this be a good substitute?"

"Yeah it's got everything in there," Arcade said. "Technical schematics, data on the Snarks and their history…The works."

"How did you…?" Hawk blinked. "Never mind."

"I think we can deal with that," General Whithalf took the disk. "Sounds fair to me. I mean the Misfits have a space ship. Why not the Power Pack? Besides Dr. Power can help repair Friday. It would be a good cover. Say that Friday is an experimental spy plane Dr. Power cooked up."

"So now we have a spaceship…" Mrs. Power groaned. "Goody…"

"Forgive us for being a bit…overwhelmed," Dr. Power sighed. "This has been a hard day for us."

"Maybe this will help. It's a support group for parents of children with powers," Roadblock told Dr. Power as he handed him a card. "We talk on the phone or online and once in a while we meet with each other."

"So you're not mad at us?" Katie asked her mother.

"Right now I'm too tired and confused to be mad," Mrs. Power sighed. "Mostly confused. We'll discuss all this later."

"I guess this is just something we're going to have to learn to live with," Dr. Power sighed.

"I'll talk with them for a bit," General Whithalf told the Misfits. "You Misfits might want to head back home."

"What about Eddington?" Lance asked. "He said he wanted…"

"Don't worry about Eddington," Whithalf said. "As far as the Power Pack are concerned I will take full responsibility."

"Well that's lucky," Althea said. "So long kids. It's been surreal."

"Yeah how about next time we go blow up your house?" Jack grumbled.

"Been there, done that," Pietro shrugged. "But I do know some other places we can blow up."

"Quicksilver," Roadblock warned. "Come on kids let's go."

"Bye!" Katie waved. "Let's do this again!"

"Let's **not** do this again!" Alex told her.

"Well this has been a fun afternoon," Pietro groaned as the Misfits left the house. "Fight alien lizards, nearly get blown up in outer space, crash land a spaceship, out a few kids to their parents and take down an insane colonel with a persecution complex."

"All in all, just another quiet relaxing day in the life of the Misfits," Lance groaned. "How do we top this?"

"Wanna go for a ride in our spaceship and buzz the X-Mansion?" Todd asked.

"Yeah I'm down for that," Fred nodded.

"Why not?" Roadblock groaned.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Not long after…

"What a night…" Rogue groaned as the X-Men made their way back to the Institute.

"What a horrible day…" Kitty sighed.

"**You **had a horrible day?" Jean looked at her. "I had possibly the worst first day of college ever!"

"And its not over yet," Scott groaned as he looked out the window of the X-Van. The Misfit spaceship buzzed them and landed on the lawn of the Mansion.

"Well why **not?"** Rogue groaned. "Not like we haven't dealt with slime all day!"

"Hi guys!" Pietro waved from the spaceship. "Guess what we did today?"

"Let's not and say we did," Scott groaned.

"Aw you gotta hear this," Fred told them. "It's a good one."

"I don't wanna hear it," Logan grunted as he got out of the X-Van.

"Pee-ewww, you guys stink," Todd wrinkled his nose as the Misfits exited the spaceship with their Joe handlers.

"We must if **you're** commenting on it," Kurt grumbled.

"What happened?" Wanda asked.

"We spent the whole day and night tracking a giant lizard man through the sewers," Kitty told her. "You guys?"

"Fighting giant lizards from outer space," Pietro replied.

"You always have to top us don't you?" Scott glared at them.

"Well we had to team up with Spiderman and the Morlocks," Bobby said proudly.

"We teamed up with the Power Pack," Lance said.

"Who the hell are the Power Pack?" Rogue asked.

"It's a long story," Roadblock sighed. "Look we'll tell you our story if you tell us yours over coffee."

"Fine," Logan waved as they walked inside the mansion. "Might as well…WHAT THE DEVIL HAPPENED HERE?"

The inside of the Mansion was a mess. "And you guys call us slobs?" Fred remarked. "Didn't you guys just fix that wall?"

"Where the hell have you people been?" Betsy stormed up to them. She was covered in flour. The remaining mutants were also walking up to them looking very haggard and disheveled.

"Do you have any idea what happened to us these past 11 hours?" Sam told them. His clothes were ripped.

"What happened? It looks like the mansion was under attack!" Scott was shocked at seeing huge holes in the wall.

"It was," Hank groaned holding an ice pack on his head.

"The Professor…?" Jean asked.

"Still out cold," Hank moaned. "And I wish I was too."

"Who did this? Who attacked you?" Jean asked.

"It wasn't really an attack," Tabitha looked very tired. "More like an invasion."

"An invasion? By who?" Wanda asked. "Cobra? Magneto?"

"Nope," Tim said.

"Purity? The Hellfire Club?" Rogue asked.

"Guess again," Paige moaned.

"Hydra?" Kitty asked.

"Worse…" Hank moaned.

"Worse? How much worse could it get?" Shipwreck asked.

"You don't want to know…" Hank gave him a cold look. Something caught his eye. "Uh oh…"

Ororo walked downstairs. She looked very haggard and her hair stood out all over. "Storm! What happened to you?"

She said nothing. "Storm?" Kitty asked as she walked by her.

Ororo merely walked up to Shipwreck. "Shipwreck…" She gave him an icy stare. "I **hate** you."

And that was when she flattened him with one punch.

**What happened when the others were away? Find out! He he…**


	57. Attack of the Shipwreck Clones

**Attack of the Shipwreck Clones**

"I can't believe they left us behind," Ray grumbled. He was walking down the hallway with Peter and Rina. "I mean you two are on the main team and I used to live with the Morlocks. It doesn't make sense to leave us behind."

"It makes perfect sense," Rina glared at him. "The Institute is the target of many of our enemies. With most of the main team gone our defenses are lower. Colossus and I are here not only in case of backup but if someone attacks."

"And the way our luck has been going the chances of that happening are pretty good," Peter agreed. "Besides Ray you are not even on the main team. The Professor probably thought you did not have enough experience."

"I've had **plenty **of experience," Ray snapped. "I helped beat the pants off the Acolytes when they attacked. Not to mention all the fights with Cobra, Apocalypse, The Misfits…"

"What's he complaining about now?" Everett asked as he joined up with them.

"He's whining about being left behind," Rina growled. "If he wasn't such an immature weakling…"

"I am **not** weak!" Ray snapped at her. "I mean they took Bobby of all people with them! And he's the most immature guy here! You can't possibly tell me that…"

Suddenly three cartoonish short versions of Shipwrecks ran out of a room. They looked at the students and blinked. Then they did a little song and dance.

_"We represent the Shipwreck Guild! The Shipwreck Guild, the Shipwreck Guild…" _The cartoon Shipwrecks danced. _"We represent the Shipwreck Guild…And now we're gonna go play with all your stuff!" _They ran off.

The four mutants were stunned. "We all saw that right?" Everett asked. "It's just not me that snapped?"

"What were those things?" Rina blinked. "They looked and smelled like Shipwreck but they weren't."

"Oh no…" Peter groaned. "Not **them **again!"

"What are they?" Rina asked.

"Shipwreck clones," Peter told her. "Why did it have to be Shipwreck clones?"

"Shipwreck clones?" Rina asked.

"Who would make clones of Shipwreck?" Everett asked.

"Mojo would," Ray groaned. "Well technically Shipwreck made them but he did it with Mojo's machine."

"What you said made absolutely no sense," Everett looked at him.

"It's a long story," Peter said. "We have to get them before they…"

"Find Storm!" Ray shouted. "Oh man!"

"We'd better get the Professor and track them down before they track Storm down!" Peter shouted. He and Ray ran off to warn the Professor and Ororo.

"Why couldn't I be in the sewers with the others?" Ray moaned.

"Do you have any idea what is going on?" Everett looked at her.

"I never know what is going on around here," Rina grumbled as they decided to give chase as well.

Meanwhile Ororo was in the bathroom preparing to take a long bath. She was wearing a green robe and had her hair in a loose ponytail. She had turned on the water and was searching the cabinet for some bath oil. She turned around and prepared to put some in.

Only to find a Shipwreck clone in the tub. "Hey toots!" He grinned. "Want me to scrub your back?"

"AAHHH!" Ororo screamed. Startled she created a blast of lighting and hit the Shipwreck in the water.

"BBLALLALABLABBAAAAAHHHH!" The Shipwreck smoldered. He turned black all over, except for his eyeballs. "Does that mean no?"

"AGGHH!" Ororo could not get out of the bathroom fast enough. She slammed the door behind her. "That did not happen. I am seeing things. That did **not** happen!"

"We can make a lot of things happen!" Four Shipwreck clones were at her feet holding flowers.

"AAHHHHH!" Ororo screamed and ran away.

"Storm! Storm! Storm! Storm!" The Shipwreck clones chased her through the mansion.

In the kitchen Hank and several other students were having lunch. They startled when they heard the sound of thunder and lightning. "It's not supposed to rain today is it?" Hank asked.

"Not that I heard of," Betsy remarked. "It's Storm. She's upset about something. I can feel it."

"What could she be upset about?" Dead Girl asked.

"The only thing that makes her this mad is…." Hank opened a cupboard. "SHIPWRECK!"

"He's here?" Dead Girl asked.

"YOU BET I AM!" A Shipwreck clone popped out of the cupboard splatting Hank with a pie. "Whoo hoo!"

"Banana cream…" Hank stood there. "Why couldn't it be chocolate?"

"Here ya go!" the Shipwreck clone banged him again. "I aim to please! Whoop! Whoop!" He ran out of the room.

"What the hell was that?" Dead Girl yelled.

"Oh no…" Tabitha groaned. "Not **them** again!"

"Them? Who's them?" Paige asked.

"It's…" Amara began when suddenly several more Shipwreck clones popped out and started spraying the students with flour and silly string.

"Run!" Sam ordered. Several of the students scrambled for cover.

"Take that you little…" Tabitha made several time bombs.

"Tabby! No don't…" Sam began.

BOOM! BOOM!

"Never mind…" Sam groaned.

"Didn't we just fix that wall?" Betsy groaned.

"Missed me!" One Shipwreck clone danced around. "Missed me! Now you gotta kiss me!"

"Kiss this you little…" Tabitha tried to make a bomb only to be swatted in the face with a pie. The Shipwrecks laughed as they ran away. "YEAH YOU'D BETTER RUN YOU LITTLE FREAKS!"

"What the hell were those?" Tim brushed silly string from his hair. "And you guys say I cause a lot of damage?"

"Guys we have trouble!" Ray and the others ran in. "We're being invaded by…" He looked at Hank. "They were here weren't they?"

"Yes," Hank grumbled.

"Who? Who were they? And what were those things that looked like Shipwreck clones?" Betsy asked.

"They were Shipwreck clones," Sam told her.

"Shipwreck clones?" Paige asked.

"First Logan gets a clone and now Shipwreck?" Everett asked.

"Three guesses who sent them?" Ray grumbled.

A portal suddenly opened and two figures appeared. "You rang?" Mojo grinned.

"That's right, just rub it in…" Spiral sighed.

"What is going on here? Who is this clown?" Betsy asked.

"His name is Mojo," Hank grumbled as he wiped the pie off his face. "He's a deranged ruler of another dimension whose whole life revolves around television."

"So other than the fact that he's in charge of an entire dimension, he's pretty much like the average teenage kid?" Tim asked. "Or Fanfiction writer?"

"Precisely," Hank nodded. "Mojo I thought you promised never to videotape us again?"

"Actually I only agreed not to film you guys as a show for profit," Mojo said. "I never said anything about guest appearances on **other **shows of mine. When Shipwreck Clones Attack is pure gold in the ratings! You guys are always good for ratings! It's a smash hit! Besides its not like you guys ever signed a contract or anything!"

"Sorry guys," Spiral shrugged. "Technically he's got a point."

"And that means…" Mojo grinned.

"PARTY TIME!" The Shipwreck clones shouted as they ran through the room.

"Have fun!" Mojo cackled as he and Spiral disappeared through the portal.

"Mojo you fat sack of lard!" Tabitha screamed. "Come back here and fight like a man you freak!"

"We're in serious trouble aren't we?" Dead Girl asked.

"AAHHHHHH!" Xavier sped by on a jet-powered wheelchair.

"Oh yeah…" Hank put his hand on his head.

"Why couldn't I have been sent to the sewers with the others?" Ray moaned.

Three hours later…

"Is the Professor still out cold?" Roberto asked.

"What do **you** think?" Tim pointed to a Xavier shaped imprint in the wall.

"It wouldn't do any good to have him up," Betsy said. "They're immune to my telepathy."

"DIE! DIE! DIE!" Rina screamed as she chased two around with her claws straight out.

"And they are very, very nimble little buggers," Betsy added.

"I love Storm!" One Shipwreck clone clung to Ororo's leg as she wandered about. "I love Storm!"

"Make them go away…" Ororo moaned. "Somebody please make them go away…"

"Why don't you just zap them?" Ray asked.

"It only makes them want me more…" Ororo whined.

"BOOTY!" Three Shipwrecks ran by carrying underwear and bras.

"I TOL DYOU TO STAY OUT OF MY DRAWERS!" Ororo screamed as she chased them the best she could with the Shipwreck on her leg.

"We have to do something," Paige said. "They're everywhere!"

"There's a dozen of them in the upstairs bathroom having a water fight," Rahne said.

"Every time we knock one down or lock one up, three more show up!" Roberto said. "It's like Mojo went into overdrive making extras."

"Yeah it's not hard to knock 'em down," Tim blasted one only to have it get up again. "It's getting them to **stay **down that's the problem!"

"One two three la conga!" Several Shipwrecks danced in a conga line. "One two three la conga!"

"How much longer do we have to put up with this nonsense?" Rahne shouted.

"Until Mojo gets bored or we find a way to kill them all," Warren grumbled. "Either way is fine with me."

"Well at least this insanity is confined to the Institute," Betsy groaned.

"Wanna bet?" A Shipwreck clone turned on the TV.

"This is a special news report," An anchorman spoke. "Just now the Mayor's office was invaded by strange little people dressed up like sailors."

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Mayor Chandler ran from a group of Shipwreck clones shooting him with whipped cream guns. "YOU CRAZY MUTANT FREAKS!"

A glop of whipped cream hit the anchorman. "So far security has been unsuccessful in capturing them." He said. "This just in, local anchorman quits!"

"Oh god they're loose!" Hank groaned. "Of course they'd go trash the Mayor's office! Why not go after Senator Kelly why they're at it?"

"Now why didn't **I **think of that?" Mojo's face appeared on the screen. "Thanks Beast!"

Suddenly the screen changed to the Senate floor. Senator Kelly was speaking. "Ladies and Gentlemen we must do something about the Taxes!"

"I say we do something about the carpet!" A strange little voice said.

"No the taxes!" Kelly snapped. "What the…?"

A little Shipwreck clone popped up next to him. "He's right. We gotta take the taxes up before you can roll up the carpet. Badum Bum!" He then smashed Kelly's face with a pie and ran off laughing.

"Beast…" Warren twitched. "DON'T **EVER **GIVE MOJO **ANY **IDEAS!"

"You gotta admit it makes C-Span a lot more interesting," Tim remarked. He flipped the channel. "Look they set a house on fire downtown. Hey isn't that Duncan Matthews' place?"

"Okay that's it!" Hank threw up his arms. "This situation is completely out of control! MOJO!"

"Yeeeeessssssss?" Mojo popped out of a portal.

"Take these stupid Shipwrecks out of here now!" Hank roared.

"Aw come on," Mojo grinned. "I'm getting some great stuff here! I could easily get a whole season's worth of stuff with you guys!"

"And I am going to…" Betsy began when another portal appeared. "Now what?"

"Hi guys!" Longshot walked out of it. The portal remained open. "Sorry about all of this."

"Longshot where have you been?" Hank moaned.

"Longshot?" Jubilee asked. "Who's he?"

"A friend of ours," Tabitha said.

"Yeah like he can do anything to me," Mojo cackled.

"Don't worry guys," Longshot waved. "I have an idea. Come on out kids!"

"Kids?" Mojo blinked. "Oh no…Not **them!** Anything but **them!"**

"Never fear because the X-Babies are here!" Baby Wolverine popped out with several X-Babies.

"Logan has **another** clone?" Rina stopped chasing the Shipwrecks and blinked. "How many does that man need?"

"Don't forget the Misfit Babies!" Baby Toad hopped out with many Baby Misfits.

"The **X-Babies?"** Doug looked at them. "And **Misfit Babies?**"

"Don't ask…" Hank moaned. "It's a **long** story."

"It was Another Week of Random Madness," Tabitha rolled her eyes.

"Okay Mojo you know the drill," Longshot folded his arms. "Call off the Shipwrecks and I'll call off the kids."

"No way!" Mojo snapped. "You're bluffing!"

"Am I?" Longshot raised an eyebrow. "FIRST SQUADRON!"

Suddenly a huge army made up of Baby Avalanches, Colossuses, and Shadowcats appeared. "We're ready Mr. Longshot," A Baby Shadowcat said sweetly.

"Let's rock this place!" A Baby Avalanche shouted.

"Mother…" Mojo's eyes went wide.

"ATTACK!" Baby Logan shouted as all the kids tackled Mojo.

"An **army** of Baby Avalanches, Baby Shadowcats, **and** Baby Colossuses?" Jubilee looked at Hank.

"That's **another** long story," Hank groaned. "An Avalanche of Avalanches actually."

"You guys have the weirdest friends you know that?" Everett looked at him.

"Shouldn't the correct term be Baby Colossi or something?" Betsy thought aloud.

"GET THEM OFF! GET THEM OFF!" Mojo screamed as the baby mutants attacked. "YOU WIN! YOU WIN! I'LL CALL THEM OFF! JUST GET THESE BRATS OFF OF ME!"

"You better do it Mojo," Longshot told him. "Remember what they did to your awards?"

"Fine, Fine…" Mojo said as the baby mutants backed off. He pushed a button. Suddenly all the Shipwrecks disappeared. "They're gone! I put a transmitter in each of them so that they'll teleport to wherever I want. Just keep them those rotten kids away!"

"And you won't send them back here?" Hank folded his arms.

"You have my word!" Mojo said.

"Forget your word! We want it in writing!" Tabitha shouted.

"Fine!" Mojo snapped is fingers and a piece of paper appeared. "I Mojo blah blah blah… Promise not to send the Shipwreck clones to torment the X-Men or Misfits again…Blah blah blah, sign it, document it…" He handed it to Hank. "Now can I go?"

"One more thing…" Hank grinned. "Ororo…"

"This is gonna hurt…" Mojo gulped as Ororo charged up. "YEOWWWW! I WAS RIGHT!" He fell backwards into his portal.

"AND DON'T COME BACK!" Ororo screamed. The invaders left and soon the X-Men were alone in their trashed mansion.

"Well this was a fun day," Ray said sarcastically. "The mansion gets trashed again, the Mayor is ticked off at us again, and the people of Bayville have a new reason to hate mutants…**Again!"**

"And Senator Kelly has been made a fool of **again,"** Warren sighed. "It's pretty much become a running joke by now."

"This town is never going to accept us is it?"Hank groaned. "I wonder how many lawsuits we're going to get **this time?"**

"Kill…Kill…Kill…" Ororo twitched as she walked away with a glazed look in her eyes.

"Shipwreck's a dead man too isn't he?" Roberto asked.

"That's pretty much a given," Hank sighed.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Several hours later…

"So that's why everything here is such a mess," Scott groaned. A huge group of Misfits, Joes and X-Men were in the kitchen drinking coffee. "And I thought we had a rough day."

"Yeah, nearly getting blow up and fighting giant lizards from outer space and a crazy colonel hopped up on meds seems pretty tame compared to that," Lance admitted.

"Ever notice we never really have 'normal' days?" Kurt asked.

"How long have **you **been around here?" Todd looked at him. "The only normal thing about us is that nothing is normal."

"You're right," Jean sighed. "I've always tried to deny it but…Maybe we aren't normal. I mean even for mutants our lives are pretty weird."

"Wow, you of all people actually admitting that?" Althea was surprised. "That doesn't sound like you."

"Well," Jean rested her head on her arm. "You can't have **two** different teachers from **two **different colleges go berserk on you in under **one **month without doubting how normal your situation is."

"Maybe that's why both our groups have such trouble getting new people?" Fred thought aloud.

"I know I never would have come here if I'd known," Doug sighed. "Now that I think about it, for a group of selfish psychopathic maniacs planning world domination…The Hellions weren't **all **bad. We had team cookouts every last Friday of the month."

"We do seem to be in a constant quagmire of quirks and bizarre circumstances," Hank sighed. "Which reminds me has Storm finished beating up Shipwreck yet?"

Logan looked out the window. Ororo was straddling Shipwreck and pummeling him with her fists. He was lying on the ground trying to protect himself. "OW! OW! OW! OW!"

"Not yet," Logan told them. "I'd give her a few more hours."

"Well at least that's one thing that's normal around here," Scott sighed.

"It's the **only** thing that's normal around here," Rogue moaned.

**Next: I think it's time I tried to advance the plot of this story a little. Such as it is…Just have to decide which part of the plot first. Oh wait, I know…**


	58. Time to Advance the Plot

**Time To Advance the Plot**

Not long afterwards the adult X-Men and the Misfit Joes gathered together in a meeting at the Institute. "I hate to admit it but I'm a little worried about this information," Roadblock said. "Something tells me whatever Bucket Head is planning won't be a vacation."

"If Magneto's sniffing around the Morlocks he's gotta be up to something," Logan grunted.

"Agreed," Xavier folded his fingers. "But we can't exactly barge in on the Morlocks and spy on them. So we'll just have to try and keep track of them as best we can with Cerebro."

"But why would he want to recruit Morlocks?" Shipwreck asked. "I know he's looking to increase his army but they're not exactly known for just following anybody."

"He's been laying low mostly since the attack on that North Korean Mutant Interment camp," Cover Girl said. "I don't know where he's hiding all those mutants he freed but wherever it is it's pretty hard to find."

"His mutant cloaking technology is keeping pace with Cerebro, maybe even beyond," Xavier admitted. "What about the Hellfire Club? Hank have you found anything about that crystal they retrieved from the volcano in Italy?"

"Nothing," Hank shook his head. "My research is at a dead end on this one."

"What about asking Cypher?" Spirit asked. "He might know something."

"First thing I did," Hank told him. "Doug may have worked on a lot of projects but nothing he did had anything to do with crystals."

"Well what did he work on? Besides the Bio Pulse?" Spirit asked.

"Let's see," Hank thought. "He did a lot of translating old documents. Mostly Ancient Greek and Latin texts which the Hellfire Club either sold or kept in their private collections."

"Greek and Latin," The Blind Master thought. "The Mediterranean. Go on, what were the contents of those texts?"

"You know I'm not really sure," Hank thought. "I only asked about if he knew anything about crystals."

"He's in class now with Scott and Jean," Ororo said.

"Class will be over in about ten minutes," Xavier thought. "I'll tell Jean to send Douglas here when he's finished." He sent a telepathic summons to Jean informing her of what he needed. "He'll be with us shortly."

"Why do you want to know about some old translations?" Shipwreck asked the Blind Master.

"Just a hunch," The Blind Master said. "So how are things around here?"

"As well as can be expected in a town that hates mutants," Hank sighed. "We've had a few incidents with vandals and some hate mail but nothing as bad as it was during the riots."

"Speaking of which they're starting to rebuild some of the streets that burned down," Warren said. "In fact I think there's a ceremony of some sort on TV this afternoon."

"Turn it on," Shipwreck told him. "Might as well watch it."

Warren did so. On TV there was the Mayor as well as a small crowd of people in front of a row of house frames. On the podium with the mayor was a man in a dark suit and large black hair and long sideburns. "People of Bayville, Lobo Industries and Technology is happy to provide new and better homes with state of the art security. From the ashes of tragedy we shall make Bayville rise again into a better, safer, more modern community."

"Who's speaking?" The Blind Master asked.

"Guy with big bushy black hair," Roadblock told him. He read the caption under the picture. "Name's Maximus Lobo."

"His company's in charge of rebuilding all the houses destroyed in the Bayville Riots," Logan growled.

"Something disturbs you," The Blind Master noted. "You do not like this man? Is he anti-mutant?"

"Never really said much about us," Logan said. "How…?"

"The tone in your voice indicates that you do not find him trustworthy," The Blind Master told him.

"Something about that guy…" Logan frowned. "Something about his eyes…I dunno. Kind of reminds me of…Nah it's probably nothing."

"I know how you feel. Lobo. Why does that name sound familiar?" Warren thought.

"Maybe because he runs one of your subsidiaries?" Shipwreck shrugged.

"WHAT?" Everyone in the room shouted and looked at Warren.

"Didn't you know that Lobo Technology is a subdivision of Worthington Industries?" Roadblock asked.

"This guy works for you and you don't even know him?" Logan's jaw dropped.

"Technically he probably works for my father," Warren said.

"He doesn't work for him," Shipwreck said. "He works with him. He's one of the main shareholders of Worthington Industries."

"WHAT?" Warren shouted.

"Even **Shipwreck** knew that!" Logan pointed out. "How **did** you know that anyway?"

"My girls were playing around with the stock market about a week ago," Shipwreck said.

"I didn't think they were old enough to actually invest money in the stock market," Xavier said.

"No, they were actually playing around with the stock market computers and…" Shipwreck began. "Don't ask."

"How could you not know what's been going on in your own company?" Hank asked.

"Well I haven't exactly been home for a while," Warren said.

"So what exactly have you been doing all those times you had to leave the Institute on business?" Hank snapped.

"Worthington Industries handles a lot of different industries," Warren said. "And since my family has sort of kept me out of the loop on a great deal of them…"

Douglas knocked on the door and walked in. "You wanted to see me, Professor?"

"Yes, come in," Xavier said. "We wanted to ask you a few questions. This will only take a moment."

"Those texts you translated for the Hellfire Club," The Blind Master asked. "The ones in Greek and Latin. What was in them?"

"Well nothing much," Doug scratched his head. "A lot of it were original documents of these old poets. Mostly mythology."

"Mythology?" Spirit asked. "What sort of myths?"

"Well the usual, the gods and ancient powers and stuff…" Doug began. "No wait, there was something else. Now that I think about it a lot of what I did was centered about one certain mythological animal. The Phoenix."

"Really?" Xavier raised an eyebrow. "Go on…"

"Well most of it was poetry like I said," Doug shrugged. "All about the legend and stuff. Did you know the Phoenix story originates in Ancient Egypt? But it was carried over to Greek, Islamic and eventually European legend."

"Wait a minute…" Shipwreck stopped him. "Stop the History lesson. The Phoenix? Isn't that what Rachel called herself?"

"Yeah and that power she had, the one she's supposed to get from Jean?" Roadblock thought aloud. "She did look a lot like a bird when she was fighting."

"There was one other thing I found was interesting," Doug said. "From what we can figure out the legend of the Phoenix started roughly around the reign of the Egyptian Pharaoh Rama Tut."

"Rama Tut?" Hank said. "He's the pharaoh before…"

"Before En Saba Nur," Xavier's eyes darkened. "Otherwise known as Apocalypse."

"Wasn't he also the guy that had all that fancy technology that he wasn't supposed to have?" Shipwreck thought.

"Yes," Xavier thought. "I wonder…"

"There's another thing I just thought of," Doug added. "During the Reign of En Saba Nur nearly all the writings and references to the Phoenix were destroyed. But despite a royal decree people wrote and talked about it anyway."

"A royal decree?" Low Light asked. "You saying Apocalypse was **against **the Phoenix?"

"From what I've read…" Doug told him. "It was more like he was** afraid **of it."

"I just got a very bad feeling about this," Logan grunted.

"Okay let's think this thing through," Shipwreck got up and walked around. "Here's what we know: The Phoenix legend starts around when Rama Tut is in charge. Rama Tut had this alien technology he somehow got his hands on. Apocalypse overthrows him, and tries to erase everything dealing with the Phoenix story. But at the same time he tried to make normal people into mutants."

He thought a moment. "I got nothing."

"It's simple you idiot," Cover Girl snapped. "Somehow Rama Tut and his technology create the legend of the Phoenix. This power is a threat to Apocalypse so he tries to suppress it. But then he gets greedy and decides to use this power or at the very least the technology that created this power for his own devices."

"He gets a God complex," The Blind Master thought aloud. "And now the Hellfire Club wants this power for their own uses."

"And something tells me they ain't gonna use all of it for the good of mankind," Low Light said sarcastically. "More like the good of their wallets."

"And something also tells me they're not above using the X-Men to do it if they have to," Ororo said. "That crystal, could it have been part of the technology used by Rama Tut and Apocalypse?"

"Five will get you ten it was," Low Light remarked. "No wonder the Hellfire Club wanted it so bad."

"Jean…" Xavier frowned. "They may go after Jean."

"But why her?" Shipwreck said. "I can see your logic but they got a ton of other psychics over there. Why kidnap one telepath when they've probably got a dozen of 'em?"

"They may not specifically target her," The Blind Master said. "She may merely get caught in the crossfire…"

"Which explains the vision I had while we fought Apocalypse…" Xavier added. "You're right Logan, this is **very **bad."

**"What's** very bad?" Jean asked as she walked in.

"Oh boy…" Hank gulped.

"Jean…" Xavier sighed. "We need to talk."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Where the hell could that Leech brat be?" General Kincaid, the head of the GRSO slammed his fist into the desk. He was a tall thin balding man with a deep hatred of mutants. "Top priority my ass. Because of **this** we had to pull back our operations in New York?"

He glared at his team of superior officers that worked under him. "The Mutant Detection Scanners are working quite well," One soldier told him.

"Apparently not well enough," Kincaid snapped as he grabbed a cigarette from his pocket. "We're supposed to be the a god damn elite mutant hunting team and we can't find one lousy kid?"

"We have captured 38 mutants in the Chicago area," Another soldier reminded him.

"Yes, but there are still dozens more we can't find. We've now narrowed down their hideout to only three possible sections," He pointed to the map. "And they're using the sewers somehow to try and avoid detection."

"Sir is it possible that the mutants are actually living in the sewers?" One solider asked. "You know like in Bayville and New York?"

"Possible," He took a drag from his cigarette. "However if they were living in large numbers underground our MDS would have pinpointed them by now."

"What about the Leech kid?" Another asked. "He could be screwing it up with his freaky powers?"

"Another possibility but I doubt it," The First soldier said. "From what we know the boy's powers disrupt machinery as well as mutant powers. We haven't had any reports yet of disrupted machines so…"

"So all we have to do is go through every single sewer system in Chicago until we find them," Kincaid said. "Fine. Do it."

"Sir…" One soldier said.

"They have to be in the sewers and are somehow blocking our technology. It's the only possible explanation. If that's what it takes to finish this operation then we'll do it. It's only a matter of time," Kincaid turned his back and looked out the window. "In less than three months we'll hunt down every single mutant in this city. And once our operations in Chicago are finished, New York is next."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Later that evening….

"I've never felt so happy," Rahne twirled around after changing from her wolf form. "I had no idea I could feel like this."

"It felt good didn't it? Bringing down that stag," Aiden changed into human form and licked his chops.

"You have no idea what these past few weeks have meant for me," Rahne sighed as she sat down and looked at the stars. "It's like, I've lived my whole life in a cage and now…"

"And now you're free?" Aiden sat down next to her. "Is that how your family made you feel?"

"I suppose. You see, my real mother died when I was born," Rahne told him. "I never knew my father. My grandfather raised me. He was a Catholic minister in our village. A very…religious man."

"A real fire and brimstone type?"

"Aye, he thought everything that wasn't in the Bible and wasn't normal was the work of the devil. He called me the child of an unholy union, and that was before my powers manifested. You see…I was born out of wedlock."

"Bah! You and half the people on this planet," Aiden growled. "Hell may be big, but it ain't **that **big!"

"I always tried to please him but nothing was ever good enough for him," Rahne sighed. "And one night when I was thirteen I lost my temper and…The next thing I knew I turned into a wolf."

"And your loving grandfather called in the local lynch mob to wipe out his aberration of a granddaughter?" Aiden asked. "Am I right?"

"Aye, if it wasn't for Moira who took me in," Rahne shuddered. "Don't get me wrong. I love her like she was my own mother. She adopted me and took me in…Away from Reverend Craig. And she treated me so well, but sometimes she…Well she's a bit overprotective. When the X-men were revealed she took me away from the Institute back to Muir Island where she thought I'd be safer."

"But it didn't work did it?" Aiden looked at her. "Sometimes I think the folks who mean well and want to save people do even more damage than the ones who outright hate us. A wolf can't be smothered like it's some kind of pet. A wolf needs to run free. Even if it's the most dangerous thing in the world, that's where a wolf belongs."

Rahne's heart was beating wildly as he leaned towards her. But something inside her held her back. "I…I have to go," She pulled away, getting up.

Aiden frowned. "Did I do something wrong?"

"It's not you, it's me…I want to but…" Rahne sighed. "I guess I still have some hang ups about…You have to understand, the way I was raised…"

"I see," Aiden nodded. "The way you were conditioned to fear sex is the same way you were conditioned to hate your powers. It's all right. I can wait."

"I'd better go," Rahne felt very warm. "They'll wonder where I am."

"Until tomorrow night then?" Aiden asked.

Rahne nodded and changed into wolf form. She ran off. Aiden watched and waited. Another wolf soon sided up to him and changed into Maxwell. "Well?"

"Considering what she's been through I'm making remarkable progress," Aiden told him. "Don't worry. I know what I'm doing."

"She'll be a fine addition to the pack," Maxwell nodded. "I was told to fetch you. We have to get up early again and acquire some more property."

"All right, let's go…" Aiden changed into a wolf along with Maxwell and they sided off into the night.

Rahne made it back to the Institute without anyone seeing her. Or so she thought.

"I told you something was going on," Kitty phased her head out of the closet after Rahne passed to her room.

"Yeah can we get out of here now?" Danielle asked. Kitty phased both Jubilee and Kitty

"I told you she was sneaking out at night," Jubilee said. "I can't believe her roommate never said anything."

"Paige sleeps like a rock," Kitty told her. "You know nothing sort of an explosion would wake her up."

"How long has she been going out like this?" Danielle asked.

"About a week," Kitty said. "I first noticed it when I was talking to Lance on the phone one night and she came in at two…Well it was late anyway."

"A whole week? And you haven't said anything?" Danielle looked at her. "That's a record for you."

"I just want to get my facts straight," Kitty said. "I want to know why she's doing it, or more importantly **who** with."

"What? You think Rahne has a secret boyfriend or something?" Danielle asked.

"Well she's been sneaking out for some reason," Kitty folded her arms. "I say we follow her and see what's going on."

"This may be a radical idea," Jubilee said. "But how about we actually **ask **her what's going on?"

"Where's the fun in that?" Kitty looked at her.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The following afternoon…

"For the last time we're not interesting is selling our house!" Mr. Sefton said to the two 'real estate agents'.

"But Mr. Sefton," Maxwell put on his most charming smile. "Aren't you tired of all the…odd occurrences in Bayville?"

"You have no idea…" Mr. Sefton moaned.

"Dad what's going on?" Amanda walked in with Margali.

"These men want to buy our house," Mr. Sefton said.

"Really?" Margali raised an eyebrow.

"Here's an offer you might find interesting," Maxwell handed him a piece of paper. "An estimate of what your property is worth."

"Look I told you…" Mr. Sefton looked at the paper. "Is that a comma or a period?"

"Period," Maxwell grinned.

"Well I suppose it couldn't hurt to think about it," Mr. Sefton said.

"Dad! We can't leave here! All my friends live here! My boyfriend lives here!" Amanda said.

"This idea is sounding better and better," Mr. Sefton thought.

"I'm sorry but this house is not for sale," Margali quickly took the paper from her husband's hands and handed it back to Maxwell.

"But…" Maxwell began.

"Of course, I understand," Aiden spoke. "Sorry to have wasted your time." He took Maxwell by the arm and they moved off.

When they were nearly out of hearing range Maxwell exploded. "What the hell are you doing? I nearly had the father eating out of my hand! It would have been easy to convince…"

"Quiet you fool!" Aiden hissed at Maxwell. "If you had half a nostril working you could smell the magic on 'em a mile away!"

"Magic users?" Maxwell gasped. "Here?"

"I know," Aiden said. "Witches in Bayville are about as likely as wild polar bears in Florida. But they're magic users all right. At least the two females are."

"They could cause trouble for us," Maxwell frowned.

"You think?" Aiden snarled. "Call Maximus. He needs to know and he needs to tell us what to do with 'em."

Margali frowned as she watched the two men leave the house. "Well there goes our once chance to get out of this place…" Mr. Sefton moaned. "Who am I kidding? I'm gonna be stuck here forever!"

"Those weren't normal real estate agents," Margali narrowed her eyes. "Amanda I need you to call your boyfriend. Tell him we're coming over tonight."

"We are?" Mr. Sefton gasped. "Why?"

"Something very bad is coming to Bayville," Margali told them. "Very bad…"


	59. In the Company of Wolves

**In The Company Of Wolves**

"I don't see why we shouldn't **consider **moving," Mr. Sefton grumbled as he cleared away the dinner plates. "I mean it's not like we could end up in an even **worse **town."

"We are not moving and that is…" Margali began when she tensed up. "Oh no…" 

"Fine we're not going! I get it!" Mr. Sefton threw up his hands.

"Shut up!" Margali shouted. "Amanda! Remember that teleportation spell?"

"Yeah, why?" Amanda asked.

"I think we're going to need it very soon…" Margali looked wary.

"What do mean?" Mr. Sefton asked as he put the dishes in the dishwasher.

Suddenly a huge black wolf burst through the window. "AAHHHHHHH!" Mr. Sefton leapt out of the way, barely avoiding being bitten.

Several more large wolves burst through other windows and surrounded them. "I **told **you people we should move!" Mr. Sefton screamed. "I HATE THIS TOWN!"

"SHUT UP, GRAB A LAMP AND FIGHT!" Margali shouted at him.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Meanwhile back at the Institute…

"How are you holding up?" Scott asked his girlfriend.

"Besides the fact that I may be one step closer to becoming completely insane? Just peachy," Jean said comically. "Never been better."

"You don't know for sure…" Scott began.

"Scott…" Jean stopped him. "We both know about Rachel and the Professor's visions and how around here prophecies have a weird habit of coming true."

"That doesn't mean this will," Scott told her. "Hey, **I'm** the one that always thinks the worst will happen. You're the optimist, remember?"

"Logically I know you're right," Jean let him hold her. "Okay the Hellfire Club may be after this Phoenix Force. That doesn't mean they'll come after me. I mean between Emma, Monet and now Celandine…"

"Not to mention all the other telepaths they probably have that we don't know about," Scott said. "Look maybe what the Professor saw, wasn't what he thought he saw?"

"I do remember him telling me about the vision he had of Magneto teaching the New Mutants," Jean thought. "And that did happen…"

"But not with the Magneto of this world," Scott pointed out. "Maybe that will happen again? I mean people do tend to show up here unexpected and…"

That was the exact moment that Margali, Amanda and Mr. Sefton appeared. They fell right on top of Scott and Jean. "AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Ow…My spleen…" Mr. Sefton moaned.

"My back…" Scott moaned.

"I really need to work on my teleporting spells," Amanda groaned.

"No kidding!" Scott snapped.

"Scott…you have a point…" Jean moaned. "Amanda could you please get your foot out of my ear?"

"Sorry…" Amanda got off her.

"What the hell is all the racket about?" Logan asked as he, Xavier and some other X-Men investigated. "Amanda? Margali? Can't you people use a door like everyone else?"

"Xavier," Margali panted. "There's trouble in Bayville."

"When is there **not** any trouble in Bayville?" Logan asked.

"Yeah but usually not the big hairy werewolf kind," Amanda grumbled.

"Werewolves?" Rogue asked. "You serious?"

"Why **not **werewolves?" Kurt said. "We've run into vampires, demons, gods…"

"This isn't the time for jokes!" Margali gave him a look. "These are not the werewolves you see in the movies and on television. This is a very old and dangerous enemy of mankind. And they are linked to mutantkind."

"You saying these werewolves are mutants? Like Rahne?" Roberto asked.

"Not exactly…" Margali sighed. "I suppose technically they are a race of mutants but they are different."

"How?" Scott asked.

"I'll explain when all of the X-Men and Misfits are present," Margali told them.

"Is it really **that** important?" Scott asked. Margali gave him a look. "Fine! I'll call them." He got up to do so.

"Wait, where's Kitty? And Jubilee?" Logan looked around.

"I thought I saw them sneak out with Danielle a while back," Sam said.

"They were probably trying to find out about Rahne and where she's been going at night," Paige said.

"What?" Logan whirled on her. "**What **did you say?"

"Well uh…" Paige gulped. "Kitty and Jubilee found out that Rahne's been sneaking out at night so they decided to find out what was going on."

"And instead of simply **asking **her they decided to spy on her?" Rogue groaned. "What am I saying? Of course they'd do something like that!"

"How long has this been going on?" Scott asked.

"At least a couple of weeks, or more…" Paige said. "I think…"

"And what exactly has Rahne been doing on these little excursions?" Scott asked.

"That's what Kitty wanted to find out," Paige said.

"Hence the spying," Rogue said sarcastically.

"I can't believe this!" Logan threw up his hands. "I can't believe that one of our kids has been running around loose all this time and nobody knew about it!"

"Strangely enough **I **can," Mr. Sefton looked at him.

"Dad…" Amanda warned.

"Great! They're out there with the big wolves running around!" Mr. Sefton threw up his hands. "It's bad enough they trashed my house but now…"

"Trashed your house?" Kurt asked. "When?"

"Just now!" Margali told him, a bit impatiently. "What? Did you think we just dropped in like this for the fun of it?"

"Mom, not now…" Amanda said. "You'd better explain after we bring 'em back."

"I can't wait to hear this one," Logan groaned.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"I can't believe you lost her!" Kitty grumbled as she pushed a branch from her face.

"**I** lost her?" Jubilee snapped back. "Refresh my memory, which one of us had to stop about three times because her shoes were loose?"

"Well at least I didn't make us take a wrong turn at the last bend," Kitty glared at Danielle.

"I never claimed to be an expert tracker in the first place!" Danielle snapped back. "You just assumed…"

"We **assumed** because you were shooting your mouth off how much your grandfather taught you," Jubilee snapped at her.

"Look…" Kitty began when a howling interrupted her. "Did you hear that?" 

"Rahne!" The girls all said and ran towards the sound of the howl. Before their very eyes they saw a small doe scamper towards them. Suddenly something brown and swift managed to tackle it with its powerful jaws and bring it down.

"Rahne…" Danielle gasped as they saw their friend tear the doe's throat in an instant.

The wolf turned instantly to the sound of Danielle's gasp. Another wolf appeared behind her and growled. Rahne looked at the wolf for a moment then shifted into her human form. To the girl's shock the other wolf changed into the form of Aiden. "What are you doing here?" Rahne finally managed to challenge them.

"What are **we **doing here?" Kitty shouted. "What are **you** doing here? And who is **that** guy?"

"I take it these are your friends," Aiden said.

"Rahne what are you doing?" Jubilee asked. "You…You've got blood all over your mouth!"

Rahne blinked, then put her hand to her mouth and looked at the blood. "What are you doing here?" Kitty asked. "How could you kill that deer like that?"

Rahne couldn't answer them.

"This is who your friend is," Aiden growled. "Didn't you know that?"

"You're wrong!" Kitty said hotly. "I don't know what you did but Rahne would never do anything like this on her own!"

"Oh really?" Aiden looked at Rahne. "You think so? Are they right?"

"Rahne?" Kitty asked as Rahne looked away. "Rahne?"

"Go on Rahne," Aiden put his hands on her shoulders. "You shouldn't be ashamed of the truth."

"I know enough to know that Rahne would never hurt an animal for no reason," Kitty said. "She's not an animal!"

"You don't know me at all!" Rahne snapped. "I've been hunting long before I even met Aiden!"

"But why…?" Danielle began.

"Because it's what I do," Rahne snapped. "For a long time I've been hiding it. I felt almost ashamed. But no more! I'm sick of living up to everyone's expectations!"

"Rahne…" Kitty began.

"It's always the same, Rahne go inside, Rahne go in where it's safe," Rahne started to snarl, the words coming out harsher and harsher. "Everyone thinks they know me. Like I'm some kind of pet that needs to stay indoors. Well I'm **not **a pet! I'm a **wolf!** And a wolf needs to run free and hunt! But no, it never occurred to any of you what I want! AND I'M SICK OF IT!"

"Now wait a minute…" Jubilee snapped. "Just because you're feeling a little claustrophobic is no reason to go off killing animals with some wolf guy. Even if he is hot looking."

"Aiden understands me," Rahne told them. "He knows what I'm going through!"

"Yeah, but what do **you** know about **him?"** Danielle pointed.

"I know enough to know that he cares about me, which is more than any of you have done lately," Rahne snarled.

"Now that is a load of bull!" Kitty snapped. "We wouldn't be out here if…"

"If you had anything better to do," Rahne finished her sentence. "This might shock you Kitty but the world doesn't revolve around you! I'm sick and tired of all the drama you cause and just standing by the sidelines and watching! Well I've had it! I'm going!"

"Now wait just a damn minute," Kitty grabbed her arm. "You come back to the Institute and…"

Rahne growled and turned into her half wolf form. "If I were you I'd let go of my arm before you lose yours!" She snarled. Kitty did so. Rahne turned into a wolf and snarled at them before bounding away into the woods.

_This couldn't have gone any better if I had planned it_ Aiden grinned to himself before changing into a wolf and following Rahne.

"This is so surreal…" Jubilee blinked. "That didn't just happen did it?"

"It did," Kitty put her hand on her head. "Oh man I think whatever's going on with Rahne we just made it a lot worse!"

"No, ya think?" Jubilee asked sarcastically. "Where the hell did all that come from? Where does she get off telling us that we're jerks? She's the jerk!"

"Oh put a cork in it Jubes," Danielle snapped. "The last thing we need right now…"

"KITTY! JUBILEE! DANIELLE! WHERE ARE YOU GIRLS?"

"Is Logan to find us?" Jubilee winced.

"Yeah…That too…" Danielle said.

"There you girls are!" Logan ran in with Kurt, Rina and Scott. "What the devil are you doing out in the middle of the…?" He saw the dead deer. He took a few sniffs of the air and looked at the deer's throat. "Rahne?"

"Yeah," Kitty admitted. "She just…almost instantly…I couldn't believe she could do something like this."

"What happened? Where's Rahne?" Kurt asked.

"She's gone," Danielle said. "She just ran off with another werewolf."

"What do you talking about?" Logan asked.

"She's been seeing this guy. He can change into a wolf like her," Kitty explained.

"How long has **this** been going on?" Logan shouted.

"We just found out about it tonight!" Kitty told him.

"Another werewolf," Kurt thought. "You think he's part of the same pack that attacked the Seftons?"

"Attacked?" Danielle gasped. "Amanda and her family were attacked? By wolves?"

"What do you mean **another** werewolf?" Kitty asked. "Kurt what's going on?"

"That's exactly what we're going to find out," Logan growled. "Let's get back to the Institute. Something weird is going down and Rahne's smack dab in the middle of it."

**Next: The X-Men and Misfits try to bring back Rahne, but will they succeed? And what do the wolves plan for Bayville? Find out next chapter! **


	60. Survival of the Fittest

**Survival of the Fittest**

"I can't believe this…" Jean was in shock after listening to Margali explain the whole story. All the X-Men and Misfits were there listening to what Margali had to say after returning to the mansion.

"Believe it," Margali told her. "We are dealing with an ancient and powerful race. One that clearly has an agenda in Bayville."

"But what could a bunch of wolves want here?" Logan asked.

"Rahne?" Hank asked.

"No, she's merely a bonus," Margali shook her head. "They want her blood."

"They're going to kill her?" Kurt gasped.

"No, I said that wrong," Margali corrected herself. "They want her as breeding stock."

"Dude that's sick!" Bobby shouted.

"It's their way," Margali shrugged. "The fact that she can transform into a wolf is merely a bonus for them."

"Do you think she knows…?" Sam began.

"No, she probably assumed that they were like her," Margali sighed.

"It still doesn't explain why she turned on us like that," Jubilee said. "I mean she was all snarling in our faces."

"I agree," Ororo said. "Rahne has always been a quiet girl. She's never given us any real trouble."

"Sometimes it's the quiet ones you gotta watch out for," Shipwreck pointed out. "I mean she's a teenage girl. With those hormones racing sooner or later you gotta expect some kind of explosion if you get my drift."

"Perhaps she was feeling a bit overlooked?" Hank surmised his hand on his chin. "You must admit some of you seem to need more…attention than others."

"Hey! I don't go out and **ask** people to use me in their schemes to take over the world," Rogue defended. She looked at Kitty. "However…"

"If this is another crack about my personal life…" Kitty glared at her.

"Well you gotta admit Kitty you do tend to bring a lot of drama into this house," Tabitha pointed out.

"Look who's talking!" Kitty snapped. "You cause more trouble than…"

"SHUT UP!" Danielle snapped. "**This** is why Rahne left! We were all so busy fighting and obsessing about ourselves we didn't even **notice** she was having problems!"

"The kid's right," Logan admitted. "So let's stop blaming ourselves and find her before this Aiden character gets her into deeper trouble."

"That goes without saying but where?" Roberto asked. "Where do we start looking for a bunch of wolves in Bayville?"

"Well since those guys wanted us to sell them our house I think the real estate agency they work for is a start," Amanda said.

"Sell your house?" Kurt looked at her.

"Two of them came to our house trying to buy it," Mr. Sefton took out the card and handed it to Scott. "I should have known it was too good to be true!"

"Look at this Warren," Scott showed him the card. "Lobo Real Estate. An extension of Lobo Technologies."

"I really need to talk to my father about the family business," Warren groaned as he read it.

"Wait a minute," Doug said. "Lobo…Spanish for Wolf? Does that ring a bell?"

"Even I knew that and I'm lousy at languages," Bobby agreed.

"I knew there was something off about Maximus Lobo the second I saw him," Logan growled.

"You probably would have known for sure if you had smelled him," Xi said.

"Kitty, Arcade find out how much property Lobo Technologies owns in Bayville," Scott told them. "Not to mention anything about the company you can find."

"Got it," Kitty nodded. She and Arcade went to the computer in the corner of the room.

"This shouldn't take long," Arcade cracked his knuckles.

"The first thing we need to do is find Rahne," Xavier frowned. "I'll use Cerebro to pinpoint her powers."

"Or we could just go to Lobo Tech's office in Bayville," Kitty said. "Take a look at this!" She pointed to a picture. "The Vice President is the guy Rahne ran off with!"

"That's the same guy who was at our house the other day," Amanda said. "I'm sure of it."

"Hold on," Arcade punched in some numbers. "I got it. Take a look, here are all of the properties owned by Lobo Tech. They increased over forty nine percent after the riots!"

"All the streets that burned down Lobo Tech bought," Kitty said. "And then some. Look at the map here. The ones in red are what Lobo Tech owns."

"That's more than a quarter of the town," Kurt remarked.

"Looks like your Dad's friends have been busy Angel," Lance whistled.

"This is far worse than I feared," Margali frowned. "Of course. It all makes sense now."

"What? What does this all mean? Am I missing something?" Bobby asked. "What makes sense?"

"There's only one thing a wolf covets above all others besides his freedom," Margali told him. "Territory." She pointed to the map. "And they are planning a hold right here in Bayville underneath our very noses."

"In other words the wolves are literally at our doorstep," Hank looked at the figures. "Oh my…This is not good."

"I really need to talk to my father and my lawyers…" Warren groaned.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"I can't believe it's all over," Rahne sighed as she put her head in her hands. She was in an office with Aiden and Maximus Lobo. "I mean, I thought they would understand me and…"

"Dear child," Lobo spoke soothingly. "It's all right. You're with your own kind now. People who truly understand you."

"I hate to say I told you so love," Aiden put his hand on her shoulder lovingly. "But deep down you had to know you weren't like them. You are a wolf trapped in a human world. You could never truly be happy with them."

"I guess not," Rahne sighed. She looked at Lobo. "So…You're like me too?"

"There are plenty of us like you child," Lobo laughed. "My little brother wasn't lying."

"Brother?" Rahne's ears picked up.

"Half brother actually," Aiden explained. "We had the same mother. It's a long story."

Maxwell entered the room. "They're here," He grunted.

"The X-Men?" Rahne gasped.

"Stay here," Aiden told her. "We'll deal with them."

Scott, Jean, Kurt, Kitty, Bobby, Rogue, Remy, Peter, Hank, Warren, Rina and Logan walked into the building. Margali was with them. "Are you sure she's here?" Bobby asked.

"She's here all right," Logan frowned. "And she ain't alone."

"Rahne come out! We know you're here!" Jean called out. "Rahne!"

"Rahne," Margali called out. "Aiden is not who you think he is! He has been deceiving you!"

"Looks like we've got company…" Logan growled as several large wolves appeared around them, coming out of the offices.

"I have heard a rumor about businesses going to the dogs but I had no idea…" Hank began.

"It's not like we thought they were going to make this easy," Warren told him.

"Hey, if they wanna throw down, that's fine with me," Bobby cracked his knuckles.

"Well if it isn't the infamous X-Men," Lobo strode out with Maxwell and Aiden. "I'm honored."

"We've come for Rahne," Scott told them. "And we're not leaving without her."

"I think that's her choice don't you?" Aiden sneered.

"I agree," Jean said. "So why not let her choose when she has all the **facts?"**

"Or maybe you're scared of her hearing the truth about you?" Remy snarled. "Like how you attacked Amanda and her parents when they wouldn't sell you their house?"

"What?" Rahne revealed herself. "That's impossible! Aiden would never do something like that! Tell them!"

"Yeah Aiden, why don't you tell her how you guys have been plotting to take over Bayville the moment you heard about the riots?" Scott said. "It must have been easy to buy up all those streets that were damaged."

"Not to mention dirt cheap," Remy added.

"You've been buying out the homes of the humans so you could live in them yourselves, right?" Bobby asked.

"Not exactly," Lobo looked at him. "But I'll give you an A for effort."

"No," Hank frowned. "You're buying the homes and land for other mutants. Making Bayville some kind of beach head."

"Congratulations Beast," Lobo grinned. "The way you deducted that I would swear that you were almost lupine."

"It's a win-win situation," Aiden told them. "We get the land and our allies get a secure home. What's wrong? I thought you'd be happy living in a town full of mutants? Think about it, with mutants in the majority the mutant bans would be gone. You'd be free to go anywhere you please, as long as you're willing to abide by a few…conditions."

"You're not in this alone are you?" Scott reasoned. "Who are you working for?"

"That's for us to know and you to find out," Maxwell told them.

"Preferably to **not** find out," Lobo said.

"Wait a minute…" Rogue frowned. "I recognize these guys! These are the same kind of wolves that were working for Magneto! Kurt remember a long time ago when I first picked up Mystique's memories? How she was being chased by wolves?"

"You don't mean…?" Kurt looked at them.

"These look like the exact same wolves as in her memories," Rogue said. "I'm sure of it!"

"What?" Rahne gasped.

"Don't listen to them," Aiden told her. "They'll only confuse you."

"You're the one trying to confuse her!" Kitty snapped.

"So you're working for Magneto…" Scott was shocked.

"He made a pact with us long ago," Lobo told them. "We both hate the humans who have hunted and oppressed us. Why not join forces against them? Or would you rather have the land bought by the Hellfire Club?"

"What are you talking about?" Warren asked.

"Didn't you know that the Hellfire Club and it's Inner Circle are grabbing whatever land they could get their hands on, doing the same thing we are?" Lobo grinned. "Especially since they have designs on Worthington Industries."

"I never heard anything about that!" Warren shouted.

"Oh that's right, I forgot…" Lobo twisted the knife. "Daddy doesn't talk to you much any more, does he? You have **no **idea what's been going on behind your back."

"Wait, you didn't say anything about working with Magneto," Rahne looked at Aiden.

"Why shouldn't we have an alliance with a fellow mutant?" Aiden asked using his most charming smile.

"Oh that's a laugh!" Remy said. "Especially since you guys really ain't mutants!"

"Rahne, these are not humans who can change into wolves…" Margali called out. "They are **wolves** who can change into **humans!"**

"What?" Rahne gasped. She looked at Aiden. "Is this true?"

"Is there truly a difference between a human who is part wolf and a wolf who is part human?" Aiden asked grabbing her arms. "We are both creatures trapped between two different worlds, neither fully belonging to one or the other. Rahne, you know what I am saying is right. You're not like them. You're one of **us!"**

"No, I'm **not!"** Rahne broke away from him. "I don't lie and deceive people!"

"Oh please," Aiden sneered. "What about those secret hunts you went on? You've been keeping that a secret long before we met! You've been hiding the animal you are from everyone, even your so called friends!"

"We all have a part of ourselves that we prefer to hide from others, even those we are close too," Hank lifted up his head. "Rahne, look at me. Can you honestly say that **I **don't know what it's like to have a beast inside **me?** One that needs to escape every now and then."

"But does your beast know what it's like to taste blood? To hunt and kill?" Aiden twisted the knife. "Rahne does." She hung her head in shame.

"Maybe. But I'm going to make a bet that the kid's never killed a human," Logan growled. "And that's a whole different ball game."

"Wolverine and I have done far worse than you can ever imagine," Rina told her. "Did the X-Men turn us away?"

"Rahne I'm sorry if we've been ignoring you," Kitty called out. "We didn't know you felt this way. But you don't have to run off with him. We can work this out. Just come home. Please."

"Forget it X-Man," Aiden growled. "She belongs with us! She's ours! Get them!"

The wolves charged at the X-Men. Even though the X-Men and Margali's magic kept them at bay, they were clearly outnumbered. "These puppies play rough," Remy grunted at he sent several charge cards at the wolves.

"Yeah but so do we," Logan grunted as his claws sliced at the side of one of the wolves.

Aiden saw Kitty easily phase through two wolves. However before Kitty knew it she was blindsided by Aiden and knocked down before she had a chance to escape him. Aiden shifted into half wolf form and was about to pounce.

Just then Rahne changed into her half wolf form and knocked Aiden aside. "Stay away from my friends!" Rahne snarled at Aiden.

"They're not your friends," Aiden stalked her. "You are one of us now…"

"NO! I'M NOT!" Rahne gathered up her courage and changed into a full wolf, charging him. However Aiden was larger and more experienced as he changed and batted her aside easily.

Rina and Danielle put themselves between Aiden and Rahne. "Back off!" Danielle snapped while Rina flashed her claws at Aiden. "As some friends of us would say…BAD DOGGY!"

Using her powers Danielle sent a huge wave of fear at Aiden. Enough to make him whine. But he recovered snarling. However he didn't recover so quickly from Peter's armored punch. "Stay away from my friends!" Peter shouted.

"I must say you X-Men are quite amusing," Lobo laughed from where he stood. He had been watching the battle with amused interest. Several more wolves appeared. "But to be honest, I've had enough of this game. Go ahead and fight all you like. You…"

Just then the sprinkler system went on. "What the devil?" Lobo blinked as he stuck out his hand. "Why is the sprinkler system on?"

"To make **this** easier!" Althea shouted as she created a huge wave of water to crash through the office. She and Todd were riding on a broken door.

"Hang ten!" Todd whooped as the wave crashed over several wolves.

"Such a tragedy," Pietro mocked as the rest of the Misfits appeared. "It seems that someone turned on every faucet in the buildings. From the bathrooms to the office kitchen there's water, water everywhere…"

"You!" Lobo snarled at them. "AAHHH!" He was brushed aside by a huge wave.

"You really didn't think the Misfits wouldn't show up to the party did ya?" Lance called out.

"Sorry we took so long," Fred threw two unconscious wolves down. "But you know how hard it is to stop a dog that wants to play fetch?"

"Still wanna fight?" Logan flashed his claws at the soaked wolves.

"I'm game," Althea stood on top of the wave with Todd. Using her powers the huge wave of water stood still towering over the wolves.

Lobo had had enough. "Enough!" He ordered. "Stand down." The wolves did so.

"It's over Lobo," Scott said.

"Is it really?" Lobo raised an eyebrow.

"We know about your plans for Bayville," Margali said. "You're finished."

"And what will you do? Go to the authorities and tell them that werewolves are plotting against the town? Even if you had proof they wouldn't believe you," Lobo chuckled. "Keep the female for all the good it will do you. She could never truly be one of us anyway."

"Aye and I never will," Rahne glared at Aiden. "I'm an X-Man and that's where I belong!"

"Then I suggest you go with your friends," Lobo took out a cell phone. "Before I call the police to report some mutant vandalism."

"That's right," Maxwell stood up. "We **own **this building. **You're** the ones who are trespassing here."

"And soon we'll own Bayville," Aiden snarled as he reverted to human form. "And there's not a thing you can do to stop us!"

"Don't be too sure about that," Scott glared at him. "We'll finish this another time."

"Come on Misfits, let's blow this joint," Althea leapt down from the wave. The X-Men and Misfits slowly filed out the building. "Oh and by the way, you guys need a bath."

As soon as she closed the door the giant wave in the middle of the room collapsed, flooding the entire building. "NOOOOO!" Lobo screamed.

"Ooh, that's gonna be tough to get out of the carpet," Pietro winced.

"Did you guys find anything in their files while we were fighting?" Logan asked the Misfits as they headed back to the Institute.

"Not much," Althea took out some papers. "Hate to tell you this but this all looks pretty legal to us."

"We didn't exactly have a lot of time to look," Wanda said. "Even with you guys distracting those fleabags."

"They're obviously too smart to hide anything illegal in their own building," Lance said.

"Or they know how to work the system so that they don't have to do anything illegal," Logan said. "But right now, let's go home." He looked at Rahne. "You okay kid?"

"Yeah," Rahne looked heartbroken. "I…"

"Forget about it," Kitty put her hand on her shoulder. "Like you're the first girl to go crazy over a cute guy."

"Yeah but this isn't going to go away," Rahne looked at the building.

"Something tells me our fight against Lobo is only just beginning," Warren said.

"And right on our front doorstep, how convenient," Kurt rolled his eyes.


	61. And the Plots Just Keep Spinning

**And The Plots Just Keep Spinning**

"I feel like a bloody fool," Rahne sobbed. She and Jean were in the library. "How could I have let him use me like that?"

"It's okay," Jean held her and patted her hair. "I know how it feels to fall for someone who turned out to be a complete jerk. Believe me."

"But even Duncan wasn't a monster like Aiden," Rahne sniffed. "Well you know what I mean."

"That's a matter of opinion," Jean snorted. "Come on, let's get you some tea."

They left for the kitchen passing Margali, Mr. Sefton and Xavier. "How is she?" Margali asked.

"She's hurting but in time she will get over it," Xavier sighed. "We were lucky this relationship with Aiden didn't get much further. I can't believe I didn't see this coming."

"To be fair Professor I should have noticed something was wrong in Bayville as well," Margali told him. "My magic senses should have alerted me long before this. I need to ask you a favor."

"I take it you want to remain at the mansion for a while?" Xavier raised an eyebrow. "Of course."

"Great, we're stuck here for the next few days?" Mr. Sefton moaned.

"Just until I can create some strong magical barriers to keep the wolves at bay darling," Margali gave him a look.

"If only there was a barrier to keep Amanda's **boyfriend** at bay," Mr. Sefton groaned.

Xavier noticed Warren storming past. "If you'll excuse me," He said to the Seftons. He managed to catch up with Warren. "Warren. I take it things did not go well?"

"I've been trying to call my father for over an hour now," Warren grumbled. "He won't answer my calls. Or at the very least his secretary refuses to tell him that I called."

"Normally Warren I wouldn't involve myself in your family's business," Xavier folded his arms. "But considering the circumstances perhaps it might not be a bad idea for the two of us to pay your family a visit."

"To find out exactly how much Lobo has been influencing Worthington Industries," Warren nodded. "Not a bad idea. I could use a telepath to find out what the hell is going on up there. And exactly what's being done behind my back."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Later on top of the roof at the Institute, Remy was staring out at the stars in the sky. Rogue made he way towards him. "Figured you'd be up here again."

"Just looking at the stars," Remy told her not averting his gaze. "Trying to relax. It's been a rough night."

"Nothing like a tumble with some werewolves to wear you out," She sat next to him.

"Remy okay," He shrugged.

"You haven't been sleeping a lot lately," Rogue observed. "I can tell."

"No more than usual," Remy shrugged and stood up. "I think I'll go inside. Bit cold tonight."

"It's Sinister isn't it?" Rogue whispered.

That stopped Remy in his tracks. "Just drop it."

"I can't just drop it," Rogue said. "He did something to you didn't he?"

"Please tell me Cyclops set you up to this so I can punch his lights out."

"No, I came to this conclusion on my own," Rogue said. "You can't just forget about this like Sinister never happened."

"You always complaining about people not minding their own business around here," Remy snapped. "Then you go around and do the same thing! Butting in where you're not wanted!"

"Well excuse me for **caring **about you!" Rogue said hotly. "Damn it Remy I know you! I know when you're hurting better than anyone around here! Sinister has got you freaked out and I want to know why! It's not like I'm gonna run around and tell people!"

"I know," Remy breathed out. "I know you wouldn't. You're right about one thing,Remy can't just forget about it. Because Sinister sure as hell won't. He's gonna come after us again. And next time he won't go easy. But Remy can't tell you...Not now anyway. Please just...let me try and sort this out for a while longer."

"What are you hiding from me Remy?" Rogue asked.

"Trust me Chere," Remy looked at her before he left. "You're better off not knowing."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Meanwhile not far away from the Pit…

"Okay you can't say that I never do stuff with you girls," Shipwreck sighed as he looked at the sky. "I mean stargazing does count as Daddy/Daughter time."

"Even if we did have to blackmail you, yes," Daria fiddled with some equipment. Trinity was there with their father working on some kind of invention. It looked like a giant flat car magnet.

"Just for the record," Shipwreck told her. "Next time just **ask **me if you want me to chaperone you on one of your star gazing field trips. It's not nice to hide Daddy's alcohol and not tell him where it is. Even if your sister does approve."

"We didn't want you to say no," Quinn told him.

"What makes you think I would have said no?" Shipwreck huffed. "I'm interested in your lives."

"Interested yes," Polly whistled as he landed on Shipwreck's shoulder. "Understand no. Face it Swabbie, you have trouble getting through Mr. Wizard! Awk!"

"Maybe but I have no trouble at all understanding the chefs from the Food Network," Shipwreck glared at him. "In fact I believe the people on Iron Chef just did a full show doing Parrot recipes!"

"AWWWWK! Bluffing! You're bluffing!" Polly flapped his feathers.

"Try me!" Shipwreck challenged.

"Detecting a strange form of cosmic radiation," Brittany fumbled with some dials. "Turn on the micro-oscular magnet."

"What exactly does this do hickey do again?" Shipwreck scratched his head.

"It attracts meteors with unusual properties," Quinn said. "You know, odd metals and stuff like that."

"Really?" Shipwreck blinked. "I should step back shouldn't I?"

"That might be a good idea," Daria nodded. "Incoming! Turn up the power! Wow! We really got something!"

Suddenly something streaked right into the magnet. That something turned out to be a man completely encased in a strange form of silver metal riding a silver surfboard. "We got **something **all right," Quinn blinked.

"Better turn it off," Daria did so and the silver man and his board fell to the ground.

"Well this is unexpected," Brittany blinked.

"Yeah you don't get naked silver people every day," Quinn nodded. "At least not like this…"

"Hey buddy," Shipwreck asked. "You okay?"

"Ooohhhhhh…" The silver being moaned as he sat up.

"Wow, what a wipe out," Polly balked.

"Sorry about that," Shipwreck helped the man up. "My girls were fooling around with one of their inventions and uh…" He looked at him up and down. "Aren't you cold or anything?"

"I am the Silver Surfer," The Man spoke. "I am able to travel the infinite vastness of space without feeling it's subzero temperatures."

"O-kay…" Shipwreck blinked.

"Weirdo…" Polly whistled.

"Are you a mutant?" Daria asked. "Like us?"

"No child," The Silver Surfer sighed. "I am a being from beyond the solar system. Beyond your very galaxy, trapped here by the decree of Galacticus, devourer of worlds."

"Boy he must have hit his head harder than we thought," Quinn whispered to her sisters.

"Look I'm Shipwreck Delgado and these are my kids, Brittany, Quinn, and Daria," Shipwreck introduced. "I'm really sorry about the whole mess. Look you see that army base over there? My house is right next to it. Well actually it's **on **it. Oh but it's nothing like you think. We're not that big into alien stuff or anything. But uh, I can get you checked out or you can rest up. It's the least I can do."

"Yeah can you come to our house?" Quinn took his hand. "We promise not to experiment on you."

"And this time we mean it," Daria said.

"We **do?"** Brittany asked. Her sisters gave her a look. "Oh yeah, we do."

"It has been a long time since I have been in the company of young ones," The Silver Surfer sighed. "My life has been solitary with only my cosmic board to keep me company as I traveled the vastness of space."

"Nut job!" Polly laughed.

"Can it bird!" Daria glared at Polly. She looked at the Silver Surfer. "Please?"

"Why don't you just come over to our place for the night?" Shipwreck said. "Just for a rest? What have you got to lose?"

"What indeed?" The Silver Surfer asked wearily.

And that was how the Silver Surfer found himself invited to Misfit Manor. This was when the disaster truly began.


	62. Say Hi to The Silver Surfer

**Say Hi to The Silver Surfer**

"So…Silver Surfer," Shipwreck said as he drove back to the Pit. "You're not from around here are you?"

"Originally I am from a planet far beyond your solar system," The Silver Surfer spoke. He had reluctantly agreed to ride in Shipwreck's jeep. "A billion light years beyond your galaxy."

"I thought you were from out of town," Shipwreck nodded. They drove up to the gates. "Don't worry about security. Leave it to me."

The MP on guard barely raised an eyebrow as he stopped. "Shipwreck what kind of prank have you done this time?" He groaned. "On second thought, don't tell me. I don't want to be court martialed. Drive on."

"See what did I tell ya?" Shipwreck grinned as they made their way to the Misfit House. "Home sweet home."

"I must confess I am a bit wary..." The Silver Surfer said.

"Oh don't worry, our kids are smart," Shipwreck said as he opened the door. "They won't do anything to you." He looked in and found Todd going postal on a remote control.

"WHY WON'T YOU WORK?" Todd was pounding the remote control with his fists. "WHY WON'T YOU WORK? WORK YOU STUPID…."

"Toad you need new batteries," Lance rolled his eyes as he strummed cords on his guitar.

"Oh," Todd looked at it. "I knew that."

"Xi…" Pietro was walking by with Xi hugging his back. He had a strange facial tic. "Please stop hugging me."

"Hugs! Hugs!" Xi was grinning happily.

"WHO GAVE XI THE DOUBLE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES?" Pietro shouted. "COME ON! FESS UP!"

Xi noticed the Silver Surfer. "New friend?" Xi blinked.

"Yeah," Daria nodded. "He's a new friend."

"HUGS!" Xi gleefully pounced on the Silver Surfer.

"XI! NO!" Shipwreck tried to pull him off. "Sorry! He's very affectionate! No Xi! Down! Down Xi!"

"Come on man!" Todd grabbed Xi by his legs and pulled. "Give it a rest yo!" They finally yanked him off.

"Sorry about that," Shipwreck apologized. "He's really very…Xi! No!" Xi was now hugging Shipwreck. "He's desperate for attention and…Xi you're choking me!"

"I must admit I was skeptical when you told me that you lived in a military complex," The Silver Surfer admitted. "Now…Well I see that you mean me no harm. Intentional harm anyway."

"What's going on?" Althea asked as the other Misfits entered the room. "Pop who is this guy? And why is Xi hugging you?"

"This is the Silver Surfer," Quinn told her. "Silver Surfer…Everybody. Everybody…Silver Surfer."

"And Xi OD'd on the cookies again," Shipwreck was trying to remove Xi from his neck. "Xi…please! Let go of me already!"

"You know that name sounds familiar…" Fred scratched his head. "Hey weren't you involved with the Fantastic Four a while back?"

"You are correct," Silver Surfer said serenely.

"So what's your story?" Todd asked.

"I am from a planet far beyond your solar system," Silver Surfer began. "A world called Zen-La. We were a peaceful society devoted to hedonistic pursuits, yet I yearned for adventure."

"Hedo-what?" Fred scratched his head.

"They spent their lives playing video games and partying," Pietro told him.

"Oh," Fred nodded.

"One terrifying day our world was set upon by Galacticus, devourer of worlds," The Silver Surfer continued. "He would have destroyed Zen-La and all life on it to fill his insatiable hunger."

"Sounds like the guy never heard of Weight Watchers," Althea quipped.

"I managed to strike a bargain with Galacticus," The Silver Surfer went on. "In exchange for sparing my world I would serve as his herald, finding him new worlds to feed on. He granted me cosmic powers so that I could traverse the stars infinitely. For untold years I did so, until one day when I came upon the Earth. However I learned of humanity's nature, curiously paradoxical yet strangely noble."

"You don't watch Reality TV do you?" Arcade asked.

"I joined forces with a group calling itself the Fantastic Four in order to save the planet," The Silver Surfer explained. "Earth was saved but I paid a heavy price. As punishment for my treachery, Galacticus placed a barrier around the Earth's solar system. I cannot escape it. I am forever condemned to this planet. Never to escape."

"Well…" Fred scratched his head. "Have you gone to Disneyworld yet?"

"Ooh! Or Epcot!" Todd said. "That's a lot of fun!"

"How I long to soar among the stars again," The Silver Surfer sighed. "To sail unchallenged into the dark void of the unknown. Fate indeed is a cruel mistress…"

"Sounds like somebody's been surfing the starways just a little too long…" Pietro whispered to Wanda.

"Yeah I used to think Cyclops was long winded," Wanda whispered back.

"Why don't you kids calm Xi down with some warm milk?" Shipwreck managed to shimmy Xi off his back. "I'll take the Surfer down to the study to relax."

"You mean the basement?" Fred asked.

"Yes Fred the basement," Shipwreck sighed. "Hey where are all the other adults anyway?"

"They're meeting with Duke," Lance said.

"And they left you alone?" Shipwreck asked.

"Nah they paid Althea to keep an eye on us," Todd nodded. "Oh the babies are asleep in bed. Out like a light."

"You didn't slip them Nyquil again did you?" Shipwreck asked.

"No…" Pietro whistled. "Uh…Gotta go now!" He zoomed upstairs.

"They're good kids," Shipwreck escorted the Silver Surfer down to the basement into a small room filled with nautical trophies. "When their medication works. See this is where I go to hide from the kids when they're driving me crazy. It's my personal sanctuary. Well it used to be the shed out back but since the fire…"

"How I long for the simple pleasure of family," The Silver Surfer sighed. "How long has it been since I have been cut off from my homeworld, forever banished from…"

"Geeze buddy you need a drink," Shipwreck groaned.

"I do not require sustenance," The Silver Surfer told him.

"Who said anything about **requiring **anything?" Shipwreck looked at him. "This is purely for relaxation only. Here…" He went to a small fridge and took out a thermos. "I've been saving this for a special occasion."

"I do not…" The Silver Surfer began when Shipwreck handed him a drink. "Well I suppose in order to be hospitable. Mortal drinks have no affect on me since I gained my cosmic powers."

Ten minutes later…

"You know what really stinks?" The Silver Surfer was gulping down another drink, his voice clearly indicating he was inebriated. "I worked for Gala-hic-calus…Galatic-tic-hic—That **jerk **for practically a millennia- Faithfully. Never asked for anything once. Not even a day off. I must have found him a hundred and a hundred…" He flashed his hands. "A lot more than this many worlds and the second I ask for one little thing…just one tiny little favor…And Bam! He dumps me. Just like that."

"Well that's not fair," Shipwreck poured him another drink.

"You're damn right it's not fair!" The Silver Surfer told him. "I mean its not like there aren't a billion other planets out there! Noooo! He has to eat when he has to or else! Like **his **needs are the only one that matters!"

"You're right!" Shipwreck agreed as he poured himself a drink. "He is a jerk!"

"Damn right he is a jerk!" The Silver Surfer nodded and took a gulp. "I must say however, Earth is not without it's surprises. This Earth drink is surprisingly liberating."

"And it don't make you sick as a dog either," Shipwreck downed the drink.

"Okay we finally got Xi calmed down," Althea said as she and Wanda walked into the room. "What's going on?"

"We are discussing the mysteries of the universe," Shipwreck told them. "Surfey here is sharing his vast cosmic knowledge with me."

"Have you ever looked at your hands?" The Silver Surfer slurred as he stared at his shiny appendages. "I mean _really _looked at them?"

"You got the Silver Surfer **drunk?"** Wanda gasped.

"This **surprises** you?" Althea looked at her. "After all this time you're shocked?"

"No, what shocks me is that we didn't see this coming," Wanda admitted.

"Oooh!" The Silver Surfer watched his hands move. "Shiny…"

"And people wonder why I'm always looking at nursing home brochures…" Althea groaned as she indicated she had a huge headache.

"Hey, the guy had a rough time here," Shipwreck defended his actions. "I'm just helping him relax a little."

"Hey! Hey!" The Silver Surfer had a strange light in his eyes. "I've just realized something…I have powers! Cool powers! Watch this!" Suddenly he stood up and a bright light emanated from his body making the room very bright.

"WHAHOOOO!" Suddenly he jumped on his cosmic board and took off through the house. "SURF'S UP!"

"I'd say mission accomplished," Wanda remarked. They ran up the stairs and outside. They watched the Silver Surfer do several tricks in the air and put on an impressive light show.

"Holy crap what was that?" Todd yelled as he and the rest of the Misfits ran outside.

"What's going on?" Arcade asked.

"Oh my father just got the Silver Surfer drunk," Althea told them.

"Oh," Todd said casually. "Is **that** all?"

"Great, we get **one **nutcase down…" Lance grumbled.

"HOOOOYAAAAAAAA!"

"Wow, I didn't know he could make look like his board's on fire like that," Angelica blinked.

"Well now we know," Fred said. "And knowing is…"

"I am getting so sick of that joke," Lance groaned.

FOOOM!

"There goes the roof of the motor pool," Arcade said calmly.

"Okay let's remember that in the future cosmic power plus alcohol is not necessarily a good thing," Pietro winced.

Not far away Duke and the other Misfit adults were watching the strange antics. "Whatever this is please let it be a Cobra attack," Spirit groaned.

"What's going on?" The Blind Master asked.

"A naked silver guy riding a surfboard is tearing up the sky and just tore up the roof of the motor pool," Low Light explained to him.

"You don't have to be sarcastic," The Blind Master told him.

"That's what's happening!" Low Light told him.

"Is that coming from the…?" Cover Girl's eyes widened when she realized where the weirdness came from. "Uh, excuse us! Gotta go!" The Misfit handlers ran away quickly.

"WHAT HAVE YOU BRATS DONE NOW?" Low Light screamed.

"IT'S NOT US! IT'S SHIPWRECK!" They heard Pietro scream back. "HE DID IT!"

"WHY AM I NOT SURPRISED?" Roadblock shouted. "FORGET THE KIDS! IT'S SHIPWRECK THAT NEEDS TO BE SUPERVISED!"

"YOU GOTTA PAY ME TRIPLE FOR HIM!" Althea shouted.

"The irony of this is that the world is worried about mutants destroying the planet," Duke rolled his eyes as he talked to himself. "It's **sailors** they should be concerned about!"

"Okay what the hell is going on around here **this** time?" Hawk blinked as he walked up to Duke.

"I dunno," Duke sighed. "But I bet Shipwreck had something to do with this."

"Of course he did…" Hawk sighed putting his head into his hands. "I **had** to go into the army. I could have listened to my father and gone to **business school** but noooooooooo…I had a duty to protect my country!"

Unbeknownst to them another figure was watching the insanity from the shadows with sadistic glee. "Cosmic power…" Selene grinned. "This is going to be easier than I thought."

**Uh oh, Selene's at the Pit and the Silver Surfer is drunk. This is not going to be pretty…**


	63. Cosmic Power is a Tricky Thing

**Cosmic Power is A Tricky Thing**

"Let me see if I get this straight," Hawk held up his hand. He was in his office with the Misfits and their handlers. "Shipwreck you and the Triplets met an alien being with immense cosmic powers. So instead of telling me, your commanding officer…You bring him back to the base, right to the Misfit House…Right inside the Pit… and you get him **drunk?** Is **that **what you're telling me?"

"Basically yeah," Shipwreck nodded.

"WHOOOPIE!" The Silver Surfer flew upside down next to the window.

"I see," Hawk said calmly as he looked outside. "I'm just curious Shipwreck but maybe you could explain to me **why** you did this? I mean what was your thought process that led you to the conclusion that getting an alien **drunk **was a **good** idea?"

"Well," Shipwreck scratched his head. "He seemed depressed. I wanted to cheer him up."

"COWABUNGA BABY!" The Silver Surfer whooped as he sailed by again. He was wearing yellow boxer shorts with smiling faces on them.

"I have to admit it worked," Hawk said with a straight face.

"I gotta admit General you're taking this awfully well," Roadblock said. "Normally by now you'd be screaming like hell."

"Roadblock you don't lead a team of the world's most advanced fighting forces without being able to keep a cool head and steady nerves," Hawk said calmly. "You have to pick your battles, and know that sometimes you have to let things ride."

"You're plastered too aren't you?" Roadblock put his hand to his forehead, indicating he was getting a headache.

"Pretty much yes," General Hawk took out some pills from his drawer. "Actually before all this began I had to deal with a few things. A wrench fight in the motor pool. A couple small fires in the cafeteria. Bazooka got lost on the highway again with a convoy of tanks. And one of them accidentally went off and blew up a fast food restaurant. Fortunately it was an Arby's so no one was in it and all the employees had ditched to go smoke in the woods so no one got hurt."

"Ah…" Spirit nodded his head. "I see…"

"On top of it I also got a call from the President of the United States and spent two hours explaining to him not only that it would be a bad idea to go invade Quebec," Hawk continued. "I had to point out where Quebec **was.** And that Quebec was populated by French speaking people and not Arabic speaking people. And why it was a bad idea to simply bomb France just for the hell of it. Needless to say I really needed something and Psyche-Out gave me these babies and I must say they're really working well. Kicked in not long after Surfer started doing his wipe outs out there."

"WHAHOOOOO!" The Silver Surfer sped past again. This time the shorts were on his head.

"Yup," Hawk casually drummed his fingers on his desk. "I have to warn you Shipwreck when these things wear off I might be a little miffed at you. So don't be surprised if I start to yell at you and…"

"Oh don't worry I understand," Shipwreck nodded. He picked up the bottle. "So how many hours before you can take another one of these things?"

"Shipwreck!" Cover Girl snapped. "Now what do we do?"

"This is a very dangerous situation," Spirit frowned.

"No kidding," Pietro winced as something exploded. He looked out the window. "Uh oh…Guys I think we have problems!"

"A drunken alien with phenomenal cosmic powers is causing havoc on the Pit and he **thinks** we have problems?" Lance asked.

"There's something else!" Pietro pointed out the window. "Look!"

To their horror they saw Selene with her hands on the Silver Surfer's head, draining his powers. "YES! YES!" She cackled as she drained his powers. "SUCH POWER! IT'S MINE!"

The Silver Surfer fell to the ground with his board. "Uhhhh…"

"Boy is he gonna have a hangover in the morning," Shipwreck remarked.

"Selene just stole the Silver Surfer's cosmic power?" Wanda's jaw dropped. "This is not good."

"She can do that?" Todd's eyes widened.

"Apparently," Althea said. "Come on!"

"What the hell are we going to do?" Pietro asked as the Misfits started to run outside. "Ask her to give them back?"

"Well we can't just sit around and wait for her to return 'em on her own!" Althea snapped. They ran outside and saw Selene floating in the sky, glowing with a great power. Already several Joes were firing on her with everything they could shoot at her. She swatted them away with ease.

"You think you can challenge **me?"** Selene laughed as she deflected the weapons so that they destroyed the base all around them. "Fools!"

"She's just swatting everything we shoot at her!" Beach Head shouted. "Like it doesn't matter!"

"It **doesn't** matter," Wanda said. "She's got magic plus cosmic power now as well as mutant powers! Not a good combination!"

"Well that was a **smart** move," Pietro grumbled.

"You have a better plan, smart guy?" Beach Head snapped.

"I think they have a better plan!" Lance pointed. Trinity flew towards Selene. "This is not gonna be good!"

"That power isn't yours," Daria shouted.

"Give it back!" Quinn snapped.

"Stealing isn't very nice!" Brittany agreed.

"Wait a minute," Quinn blinked. "Don't **we** steal stuff all the time?"

"Yeah, but we're cute so we can get away with it," Daria told her. "GET HER!"

"You really think you Powerpuff Rejects can beat me?" Selene laughed as she shot out several bolts. However the Triplets proved much harder targets than she anticipated. "Stand still you little…"

"Girls!" Shipwreck winced as Selene's cosmic force rays, which intended for the girls, hit several other objects. "Oh man there goes another tank!"

"And the roof of the cafeteria," Roadblock winced.

"Yeah, like BA didn't **already** put a hole in it," Hawk sighed.

Suddenly one of the bolts hit a power line, the electricity crackled and surged towards Lance. "NO!" Selene shouted and used her powers to shield Lance.

"What the…?" Lance blinked as Selene floated down to him.

"Are you…?" She began to say when a hex bolt hit her from behind. "AGGGH!"

Suddenly a surcharge of energy reflected back to Wanda and caused a huge reaction. The next thing everyone knew there was debris everywhere and everyone was lying flat on the ground.

Including Selene. "What…hit me?" She groaned. "And where the hell are my legs? Oh…There they are…Still attached. That's good…"

"Okay…" Althea winced as she sat up. "Wanda…For future reference…Hex bolts…Cosmic powers…Not a good combination!"

"**Now** you tell me…" Wanda moaned.

"Ooooooh!" The Triplets had also been caught in the blast and were lying on the ground.

"My name is Brittany but I was thinking of changing my name to Blue…" Brittany's eyes rolled.

"Watch out for those glitterberries…" Quinn groaned. "Those are the ones that make you act weird…Before you sprout your shimmering wings and fly away."

"Damn it," Daria's eyes swirled. "It's my turn to say damn it!"

"That pretty much sums it up for me," Roadblock said lying flat on his face.

"Thank god I'm not sober," Hawk lay on the ground. "Otherwise I'd be really upset."

"What…is going on here?" The Silver Surfer sat up and looked at the devastation.

"Oh we're just having the usual party," Beach Head said in a funny voice. "Cake, ice cream…Pin the tail on my brain…"

"Selene…Stole your powers…" Pietro gasped as he tried to stand. "Must…get them back…Must…Stop talking like William Shatner."

"Cosmic powers are dangerous to those who are not used to them!" The Silver Surfer was getting a clear head again.

"Yeah we kind of figured that out," Angelica sat up. "Now what do we do?"

"I don't think we can do anything…" Fred moaned. "We're all kind of out of it."

"Just three more barrels and I'm the new Donkey Kong Champion!" Arcade appeared to be playing an invisible video game on his back.

"Some of us more than others…" Althea winced.

"I have an idea," Todd said. "Hey Surfer! She drained your powers when she grabbed you. So why don't you just go grab her?"

"Toad that's not gonna work," Lance told him.

"How do **you** know that?" Todd snapped. "You got a manual for how cosmic powers work or something?"

"No, but I know a dumb idea when I hear it," Lance held his hand to his head. "Why is this room spinning so much?"

"It is not a dumb idea!" Todd snapped back. "And the room is not spinning! It's just going back and forth a little bit."

"To be honest Toad that does sound like a dumb idea," Fred said.

"What?" Angelica asked. "Everything spinning or the grabbing thing?"

"Both," Fred told her. "Boy that thing really has a kick doesn't it?"

"Tell me about it…" Wanda groaned. "I hear birdies…"

"I really should get up and fly away…" Selene was still groggy. "But I'm just so happy sitting here…Still got cosmic power. They can't do anything to me anyway…Oooh that black cloud of smoke looks just like a bunny…"

"You did not drain **all **my cosmic power," The Silver Surfer told her. "I still retain some!" He managed to summon his cosmic board and it came to him. "Return what you have stolen!" He got on the board and streaked towards her.

"Huh?" Selene just sat there looking at him charge. "Hey I know you…AAHHH!"

The Silver Surfer tackled her and grabbed her. "Return what is rightfully mine!" He bellowed as he felt the cosmic power return to his body.

"Agggh!" Selene pulled away but not before the Silver Surfer had taken his cosmic powers back.

"The cosmic powers are mine once more!" The Silver Surfer shouted as his body glowed.

"I'll be darned," Fred blinked. "It did work."

"I **told** you," Todd said.

"Fine, we owe you a Coke," Lance struggled to his feet.

"Okay…"Selene shook the cobwebs from her head. "Brain working again…Cosmic powers gone…I'm all worn out…Very angry cosmic alien glaring at me…I'm **out **of here!" She managed to teleport away using her magic.

"That was a pretty simplistic ending don't you think?" Angelica blinked.

"You were expecting a twelve page thesis by Steven Hawking?" Althea snapped at her.

"These powers are far too dangerous for mortals," The Silver Surfer looked at the damage. "I must leave now so as not to endanger any one ever again. Once again the Silver Surfer is alone…" He flew away into the sky.

"And once again we wrecked the base without really trying…" Cover Girl moaned.

"Well," Shipwreck looked at the damage. "**That **was an interesting evening."

"Pop, we really need to talk about your drinking habits," Althea glared at him. "You're not just an alcoholic, you're a carrier of the disease!"


	64. Nothing Like More Plots Spinning

**Nothing Like More Plots Spinning To Make You Scream**

"Well this has been a **fun** night," Pietro grumbled as the Misfits returned to their house. "Fought a bunch of werewolves in Bayville. Xi got high on cookies. Met a powerful cosmic alien, got him drunk and trashed the base, then Selene shows up, steals the cosmic powers and trashes the base, then once the alien gets his powers back he takes off leaving us with the clean up!"

"Yeah and now that those pills have worn off, General Hawk is really tearing into Shipwreck," Fred nodded. "Does he really have the authority to shove a rocket up his…?"

"I'm going to bed," Lance waved his hand. "We could all use some rest." He trudged up the stairs to his room and was prepared to have a long hard sleep. What he wasn't prepared for was there was already someone in his room waiting for him.

"You!" Lance was startled when he saw who was in his room. "What are **you **doing here?"

"I'm not here to fight," Selene held up her hands. "I just wanted to talk. I think I should explain why I did what I did."

"Uh, You're an evil sorceress?" Lance guessed. "Ultimate power? Just taking a random guess here."

"It's not that simple," Selene told him. "If it was just about power would I have saved your life?"

"Why did you save me anyway?" Lance asked.

"Is it that hard for you to believe that I would save anyone?" Selene asked.

"Well, from what I've heard, yeah…" Lance admitted.

"I thought you of all people would understand not to judge a person's actions so quickly," Selene chided. "You know of the Hellfire Clubs' plans to harness the Phoenix Force?"

"Yeah," Lance folded his arms. "So? I'm waiting. Why did you do it?"

"I only did it so I would have enough power to combat this terrible force," Selene said. "I admit I have done some…rather unscrupulous things in my past but compared to what the Hellfire Club is planning…"

"Is that why you kidnapped Amara?" Lance folded his arms.

"I was trying to prevent the Hellfire Club from obtaining the M'Krann crystal," Selene told him. "Now I admit I have a bit of a grudge against the girl for what her family did to me. But in this case I was acting for the good of the planet."

"Is it really that powerful?" Lance asked.

"You have no idea," Selene sighed. "This force is dangerous and that's me talking. Believe me, I am not taking this lightly. Now I have to find another way to boost my power if the terrible prophecy comes to pass."

"Prophecy?" Lance raised an eyebrow.

"Speak to your friend Destiny," Selene said. "She knows what I mean."

There was a noise outside the hallway, indicating the other Misfits were rushing to the door. "I'd go if I were you," Lance looked at her.

"I understand," Selene nodded. "We will meet again Avalanche." She then disappeared.

Just as she left the door burst open. "I thought I heard something," Xi explained.

"You did," Lance told them. "Selene was just in here."

"What the hell did she want?" Althea asked.

"She was giving me some story why she was trying to steal the Silver Surfer's power," Lance sat down on his bed.

"You? Why you?" Todd asked.

"I dunno," Lance shrugged. "She just wanted to talk I guess. She did save my life."

"From an accident **she** caused," Althea pointed out.

"She seems very interested in you," Xi remarked.

"Yeah I noticed that too," Todd said. "What she wants you to be her boyfriend or somethin'?"

"Yeah right," Lance snorted. "She was going on about how she needed some ultimate power to fight this other ultimate power."

"The Phoenix Force?" Roadblock asked.

"Got it," Lance nodded. "Apparently this Phoenix Force is freaking her out."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Todd asked.

"Bad thing," Althea's eyes narrowed. "Definitely a bad thing."

"Yeah anything that makes an evil witch like that worry is definitely something to be concerned about," Angelica agreed.

"Maybe…Maybe she's not as evil as we think she is," Lance thought aloud.

"I doubt it," Wanda snorted.

"She said something about a prophecy," Lance told them. "That Destiny knew something about it. And she also knows about the Phoenix Force."

"She's probably lying through her teeth," Todd said.

"Maybe not," Spirit stroked his chin. "She could be telling a half truth and that could be even more dangerous."

"I'm not stupid," Lance said. "I know we can't trust her. But for some reason she didn't want to hurt us. She could have blasted us easily when she had that cosmic power but she held back. I'm just saying…You gave the Brotherhood the benefit of the doubt. Maybe…Maybe there's more to her than we know?"

"True. We must keep an open mind. Just be careful Lance," Spirit told him. "Selene is centuries old and very dangerous. Who knows what her true purpose is…and what is her real agenda."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Meanwhile in New York…

"I told my secretary not to admit anyone," A silver haired distinguished man in a blue business suit said. He was staring out the window of his massive office.

"Well Uncle Burt as you can see I'm not just anyone," Warren said. He was with Xavier wearing a brown business suit of his own. The startling thing about it was that there were two holes in the back so his massive wings were in plain sight.

"I can see plenty," Burt Worthington glared at Warren. "What the hell are you thinking showing those…things in public? Can't you hide them?"

"Normally I would, but today I thought it would suit my purpose better if I let people see them," Warren said.

"Please tell me you didn't just fly up here in broad daylight," Burt groaned.

"No, we went through the lobby," Warren said. "It was full of people who had no idea who I was. Imagine that."

"If I may," Xavier coughed.

"Oh this is Professor Charles Xavier of the Xavier Institute," Warren introduced him. "This is my Uncle Burt and Vice President of Worthington Industries."

"I know who **he** is," Burt glared at Xavier. "He runs that insane asylum you've joined up with. I don't know why after all this time you've decided to show up here and frankly I don't care. You can…"

Just then an older, silver haired gentleman with a mustache walked into the room. He was in a blue suit and leaning on a gold cane. "Warren…"

"Hello Father," Warren said stiffly. "I came home for a visit."

"I can see that," Warren Worthington the Second glared at his son. "And so has everyone in the building. You do know I have a camera trained in the lobby as well as half the building?"

"I'm aware of that," Warren said. "We need to talk about this company and your association with Lobo Technologies."

"Oh so the prodigal son finally shows up and wants to give **us** advice on how to run **our** company!" Burt said sarcastically.

"It's my father's company," Warren glared at him.

"And that's why I have had to take steps to insure it's survival," Mr. Worthington said as he sat down.

"By merging with Lobo Tech?" Warren asked. "Do you have any idea who these people are?"

"They certainly know who you are," Burt glared. "And what you've done to us."

"I have done nothing but give one hundred percent to this business!" Warren snapped.

"Really?" Burt asked. "Do you know how much our stock dropped the day after you 'came out'? Do you?"

"I know it was a significant dip," Warren said.

"Dip! Our stock plummeted nearly fifty percent!" Burt shouted. "And's it still has barely recovered!"

"We had to lay people off Warren," Mr. Worthington sighed. "People lost their jobs because of you."

"With all due respect Mr. Worthington I think you're being too hard on Warren," Xavier said.

"And with all due respect Mr. Xavier you know nothing about my family," Mr. Worthington's features were grim. "Our family has always been a beacon of integrity and support for the community. Even during the Depression my Grandfather made sacrifices so that he wouldn't have to lay people off. There was a time when the Worthington name could be counted on. Now…"

"Now we're practically the lepers of the business world," Burt sneered. "Do you have any idea how much this has hurt your family?"

"I never intended…" Warren began.

"No you didn't," Mr. Worthington sighed. "You just leapt into this without thinking and that's what shocks me the most. I always thought I could count on you."

"But you can count on me," Warren said. "That's why I'm here."

"Well you're too late," Burt sneered. "Fortunately I've come up with a way to save the company from your mutation. And that's to cut you off!"

"What?" Warren asked.

"Burt please," Mr. Worthington held up his hand. "Warren, we're not cutting you out of the family. You will get a weekly stipend as a shareholder. And you will get a significant inheritance when I pass on."

"But I'm not going to get Worthington Industries?" Warren was shocked.

"Warren I have tried to overlook your…Abilities," Mr. Worthington said. "I know your mutation isn't your fault. That's like blaming a person who has cancer or AIDS. But quite frankly your reputation and the people you hang around with are damaging this company. I had to take steps to insure its survival."

"I hate to burst your bubble," Warren told him. "But your friends from Lobo Tech aren't exactly normal either. They're werewolves."

"What?" Burt looked at him. "I knew you'd be desperate but I had no idea…"

"It's true Mr. Worthington," Xavier looked at Burt. "I'm afraid your company is in bed with mutants. Maximus Lobo and his followers are really a clan of…individuals who are able to change their shape."

"Even if this nonsense is true, which I doubt it is," Burt glared at Warren. "It still doesn't change the fact that you're running around in spandex for the whole world to see. At least Lobo keeps his private life **private**, which is more than what I can say for you!"

"Burt…" Mr. Worthington looked pale. "Please…"

"Are you all right Mr. Worthington?" Xavier asked.

"Quite frankly, no…" Mr. Worthington sighed as he got up. "Burt could you call for Dr. Lambert? I need to lie down. I'm sorry Warren but…I had to do what was best for the company. Even if it meant replacing you and joining with Maximus Lobo." He stiffly walked back into the other room.

"Well I hope you're happy," Burt dialed on his cell phone and made a text message. "You've gone and upset him!"

"Me?" Warren glared. "Wait he's been sick?"

"For quite a while now," Burt glared. "And so have I! Sick at the way you just fly around without any regard for the family!"

"Uncle Burt…" Warren began.

"Well we're not going to be dragged down by you any more," Burt continued. "I want you to leave and never come back. Your office will be cleared out and your things will be shipped to you. I'll have Sally do it. She's trustworthy."

"Cleared out?" Warren was shocked.

"In the words of the Donald, You're Fired!" Burt snapped.

"You can't fire me!" Warren gasped.

"I can, I will and I just did," Burt got in his face. "I've been just made a partner and when your father…If something happens to your father the company will be mine. So if I were you I wouldn't count on too many checks from Worthington Industries."

"You're running the company?" Warren asked. "I suppose your son Buster is going to take my job?"

"As a matter of fact he is," Burt said to him.

"Buster? **Buster?"** Warren yelled. "Oh **there's** a smart choice. The man who barely passed **18th Century Agrarian** Business which is the **only** business class he took in his **eight years** of college is going to run the company?"

"A lot of people spend a lot of time going to school," Burt defended.

"Yeah but usually it doesn't take them **three years** to pass their freshman year," Warren said. "And even after all that time you literally had to buy them a new gym and a parking lot so he could get a diploma!"

"Well at least he's not a freak!" Burt shouted. "Okay maybe he's a little freakish but he's a human freak and not a mutant freak and that's what the board of directors want! So are you going to leave or do I have to call security?"

"We'll leave…" Warren glared at him as they left the room. "That went well…"

"Is it always like that with them?" Xavier asked.

"Actually this was a rather quiet visit," Warren sighed.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Meanwhile at the Massachusetts Academy…

"I can't believe this!" Tarot snarled as she snuck into Frost's office. "How could Evan dump me for that little…that little…"

"I believe the words you are searching for are backstabbing slut," Monet told her.

"Exactly," Tarot agreed. "Thanks for helping me break into Ms. Frost's files. I just hope we don't get caught."

"Don't worry. Ms. Frost is away on business for the night. Besides even if we do get caught it'll be worth it to take those two down a peg or two," Monet told her.

"I know you still haven't forgiven Evan for taking over the leadership of the Hellions," Tarot said as they searched. "But what have you got against Celandine?"

"I used to be Ms. Frost's right hand telepath," Monet explained. "But ever since **Yvonne** showed up…"

"I get the picture," Tarot hacked into the computer. "I'm in. Now all I have to do is find the right file. Aha!"

"You found it already?" Monet was impressed.

"Piece of cake. I did get straight A's in Computer Hacking class you know? Let's see what little Miss Perfect is hiding," Tarot hissed as she scanned the file. "Holy…"

"Well…" Monet gulped. "I knew we'd find something on her…I just had no idea it would be **this."**

"No wonder Ms. Frost didn't say anything about her past," Tarot whispered. "I mean this is…"

"I know, it's a shock even to **me,"** Monet agreed. "But are you still planning on going through with it?"

"Hell yes," Tarot told her. "Those two are going to crash and burn. They'll pay for what they've done to us. No one discards a Hellion and gets away with it. Nobody!"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

St. Mary's hospital on the outskirts of New York City…

"And this is our coma ward," A nurse led two doctors in lab coats into the room. "This woman has been in a coma for seven years. She was a college student who just passed out for no reason." On the bed was a young black woman with long curly hair.

"Alcohol?" The Female doctor asked. "Drugs?"

"None, not even an aspirin," The nurse shook her head and handed her the chart. "Her system was clean. There was no sign of a tumor or an aneurysm. We've run every test imaginable on her at least three times and nothing. It's a complete mystery what happened to her and why she is this way."

"Well that's why we're here," The male 'doctor' grinned. It was Lucas. "Could you give us some privacy please?"

"Yes doctor, I'll be down the hall if you need me," The nurse left the room.

The female doctor switched her form to her usual self. "Think you can do it?" Mystique asked.

"Of course I can," Lucas sniffed. "My powers are just as great as…"

"It's not the **strength** of your powers that worries me," Mystique interrupted. "It's your control I have concerns about. I don't want Cyndi to pop up and burn the place down with us in it."

"Let's just say we've all reached a truce…for now," Lucas grumbled. "Now keep a lookout. I need to concentrate. These mental blocks are very strong. I must admit it's impressive work. I thought my old man was good."

The woman began to stir. In a few minutes she opened her eyes. "What?" She said groggily.

"Hello Miss Bloom," Lucas grinned. "It's time to wake up. Or should I call you Astrid?"

"Where am I?" She looked around.

"In St. Mary's hospital," Mystique told her. "Where you've been in a coma for the past seven years."

"Seven…?" Astrid blinked. Her face contorted into a look of fury. "THAT BITCH!"

"How would you like revenge on the woman who did this to you?" Lucas purred.

"What do you think?" Astrid told her.

"I think first we'd better get you out of here," Mystique said. "Then we're going to catch up on what's been going on. The world has changed a lot in seven years. Mutants have been outed. It's not safe for our kind."

"Especially for Emma Frost," Astrid growled. "She'll pay for what she's done to me!"

"That's what we're counting on," Mystique grinned.


	65. Runaways, Recruits and Relaxation

**Runaways, Recruits and Relaxation**

The next chapter in the mad lives of the Misfits and X-Men began a few days after the Silver Surfer fiasco. Nick Fury and Captain America visited the Misfits on their base for a mission.

"Captain America, Fury," Roadblock nodded. "What brings you here?"

"We have a situation that's a bit too sensitive for SHIELD to handle. And since I'm putting together a new team I can't really devote much time to solving it," Captain America said.

"New team?" Roadblock asked.

"We're calling them the Avengers," Captain America told him.

"Another super hero team huh?" Shipwreck scratched his head. "I thought the government already had X-Factor?"

"This team will be made up of mostly non-mutants," Fury said. "For political reasons."

"Big shock," Pietro folded his arms.

"Maybe in the future we'll be allowed to have more mutants," Captain America told him.

"So why are you here?" Althea asked.

"We've discussed this and we feel that maybe your Misfits might be the best people for the job," Nick Fury said.

"What kind of job?" Lance asked.

"We have a little problem," Captain America sighed. "Do you remember the Pride?"

"Vividly," Wanda folded her arms. "But didn't they all get killed or something?"

"We believe so, and here are the people who took them down," Nick Fury punched up several pictures on the monitor.

"They're kids," Low Light said.

"More specifically, the Pride's kids," Nick Fury said.

"Hey now I remember…" Todd scratched his head. "Didn't they try to turn their own parents in or something?"

"Yeah they were evil villains that wanted to take over the planet," Fred nodded.

"We have **so** much in common already," Pietro folded his arms.

"They fought their own parents when they found out that they had a little habit of sacrificing young girls at a party they threw every year," Captain America said. "Long story short, their testimony and the paperwork they stole cleaned up a lot of corruption in the state of LA."

"Yeah a ton of cops were on their payroll as well as a few dozen gang lords," Nick Fury grumbled. "Unfortunately now that the Pride is gone, there's a huge power vacuum in the state. There are gang wars all over the place. People are trying to take over the Pride's turf. And maybe their kids might do the job."

"More likely try to clean up the mess their parents' made," Captain America said. "We're not sure. We tried putting them in foster homes and protective custody but…They escaped. At least one of them is a mutant. Maybe two…We're not exactly sure. The boys at the lab think she's an alien."

"An alien?" Pietro raised an eyebrow.

"Here's what we know," Nick Fury punched up files and scenes based on security cameras. "Gertrude Yorkes, age 16. Calls herself Arsenic. Apparently her parents were time travelers from the future that got themselves stuck in the past." A picture of a slightly overweight girl with glasses, purple punk hair and a brown outfit was shown.

"Is she the mutant? What powers does she have?" Angelica asked.

"She's human but her partner isn't," Nick Fury punched up a picture of a very big dinosaur. "Meet Old Lace."

"That's her partner?" Lance gasped. "It's a dinosaur!"

"A velociraptor to be exact," Arcade adjusted his glasses.

"It's not a velociraptor," Todd told him. "It's a Deinonychus." Everyone looked at him. "I watch a lot of shows on Animal Planet."

"Are you sure?" Arcade said. "It looks like a raptor to me."

"It's not a raptor," Todd said. "It's a close relative of it but it ain't a raptor."

"Yeah aren't raptors supposed to be reddish?" Fred scratched his head.

"Just because they looked like that in the movies…" Arcade began.

"It's a **dinosaur** for crying out loud!" Fury shouted. "Who cares what kind it is? It's got sharp teeth and a nasty attitude and that's all you need to know."

"But knowing is…" Arcade began. Low Light quickly put his hand over his mouth.

"Don't say it!" Low Light groaned. "It's a dinosaur and it belongs to Arsenic. We get it."

Fury said. "We think the two of them share some kind of telepathic bond. The kids broke it out of SHEILD custody a few weeks ago as well as a few other toys."

"Well all kids should have a pet," Low Light said flippantly.

"That reminds me too much of the time about Trinity and Princess Fluffietta Tinkerbell," Angelica groaned. "And how they wreaked havoc all over Europe!"

"Princess **Who?"** Captain America blinked.

"Do I really want to know this story?" Fury put his hand on his head.

"No," Roadblock shook his head.

"Nico Minoru, AKA Sister Grimm," Nick Fury continued as the picture popped up of a dark haired girl with black clothes waving some kind of staff around. "Age 16. The daughter of two dark wizards. She seems to have picked up their talent for magic as well."

"An Esper?" Spirit asked.

"Without a doubt," Fury told them. He punched in a picture of a lanky blonde youth with an easygoing smile and beach bum clothes. "Chase Stein, 18. Code-name Talkback. He's not only the oldest but also the only male in the bunch. His parents were mad scientists so he might be the brains of the operation. Apparently he's got an aptitude for creating weapons like his folks." A shot of Chase using some strange gauntlets that created fire was shown. "He's also their getaway driver."

"Getaway driver?" Wanda asked.

"Yup," Fury showed them a picture of a huge two-legged frog like green vehicle.

"Yo that's one pimp ride," Todd whistled.

"So who's the mutant?" Althea asked. "And the alien?"

"The mutant is one Molly Hayes," Fury punched in a picture of an eleven-year-old girl with long brown hair wearing a pink top, jeans and a pink hat on her head. She looked sweet and happy, especially as she was lifting what looked like a twelve-ton statue over her head with ease. "Age 11. I have no idea what she's called. Keeps changing her name from Princess Bruiser or whatever."

"Oh goody," Althea groaned. "Someone new for my sisters to play with."

"Better call in Spyder and Trinity," Wanda told her. "We're gonna need 'em."

"Karolina Dean, age 17," Fury showed the last picture of a rainbow colored girl with rainbow swirls all around her as she was flying. "Her parents were those soap opera stars that happened to run a crime empire in their spare time. Tabloids used to say her folks were aliens. It appears they were right. Her code name is Lucy in the Sky."

"No diamonds?" Spirit raised an eyebrow.

"Hey I recognize that rainbow…" Lance pointed. "It's the same kind of powers that Pride lady had back when we had to rescue Mystique and Zartan."

"Well this looks like a fun little group of teenage maniacs," Low Light groaned. "Let me guess, you want us to bring them in before they cause too much damage?"

"Bingo," Captain America nodded. "When we separated them into different families and homes we thought it was for the best in order to protect them. There are still folks out there who might want them dead for what they did to the Pride."

"Well that was a stupid move," Lance grunted.

"What do you mean?" Captain America asked.

"If anybody tried to separate us Misfits, and I know people have tried before," Pietro said. "The first thing I'd do is run away with my crew."

"**Your **crew?" Althea gave him a look. "But he has a point."

"Think about it," Wanda said. "These kids were lied to their whole lives by their parents, had only each other to turn to and then at the end more adults interfered with their lives and split them apart."

"Meaning…?" Captain America asked.

"Meaning they don't trust anyone over 30 yo," Todd told them. "Or 21 for that matter."

"Kids have a point," Low Light said.

"I guess your instincts were right on this one," Captain America told Fury.

"Who better to track down a bunch of crazy kids with powers than **other **crazy kids with powers?" Fury shrugged.

"I have a question," Angelica asked. "What are you gonna do to them once we find them? I mean, if they really wanna be together, who are we to split them up?"

"Maybe we can recruit 'em?" Todd asked.

"That's not acceptable," Captain America said. "These kids deserve to have some kind of stable upbringing. Kids don't belong in the army."

"But it's okay for mutant kids to be drafted?" Lance raised an eyebrow. "I mean you guys don't seem to mind the fact that most of us and the X-Men are underage when the world is in trouble."

"Avalanche has a point," Low Light said. "Face it Fury, there's no way kids like these can **ever** have a normal life."

"Look why don't we try and find these kids first?" Roadblock suggested. "Before we assume the worst. No matter what a life on the street can't be good for them."

"So we track these kids down and find out what they're up to?" Lance asked.

"And bring them in if possible," Fury said. "They did kind of break a few federal laws by stealing a dinosaur and some weapons. And quite frankly SHEILD is sick of being blown up, infiltrated and just generally being made to look like idiots!"

"Not **one **word Quicksilver," Roadblock headed Pietro off.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"I can't believe you're letting them go for two whole weeks…" Logan groaned. Ororo and Xavier were also in the briefing room with him. "So who else is going on this trop to Jubilee's aunt's house in California?"

"She's taking Rina, Kitty, Rahne, Paige, Tabitha, Amara and Danielle," Ororo said.

"Well Rahne I can understand," Logan nodded. "The kid needs a serious change of scenery after what that jerk Aiden put her through. With Tabitha gone the place will be a lot quieter. With Kitty gone maybe Colossus can stop moping for a bit. But why is Rina going?"

"Rina deserves to socialize more," Ororo explained. "It will be good for her to spend time with girls her own age. Besides, Jubilee is her foster sister."

"Yes, she has come a long way with her weekly sessions," Xavier nodded. "I've managed to help her control her Hydra conditioning."

"Kid still has a long way to go though with that temper of hers," Logan folded her arms.

"Logan I understand your reservations," Xavier said. "I even discussed this with Ms. Lee and we both agree that Rina needs to be around other girls. To act like a normal teenager. I think these two weeks will be very beneficial to her."

"Still…Eight mutant girls with no chaperone is a recipe for disaster," Logan grunted.

"Logan," Ororo gave him a look. "Jubilee's aunt will be there along with her butler."

"That young kid who drove her the other day?" Logan looked at her. "Oh yeah **that** makes me feel a whole lot better!"

"You must give the girls some credit," Xavier told them. "They are more mature than you realize. Besides, I will be giving them some extra responsibility before they leave."

"What kind of 'extra responsibility' are we talking about Charles?" Logan raised an eyebrow.

"Yo Professor!" Tabitha walked in with the girls that were leaving for LA. "You wanted to talk to us?"

"Yes I wanted a few words with you before Logan flies you to Los Angeles tomorrow in the Blackbird," Xavier began.

"Not that I'm complaining but why can't we just take a normal plane to LA?" Danielle asked.

"We can't exactly board a normal plane," Kitty said. "I mean Rina's claws won't pass through a metal detector."

"Trust me on this," Logan groaned. "I know from experience."

"And I'm pretty sure they won't allow Lockheed on a plane," Kitty added.

"You're taking the **dragon **with you?" Logan blinked. "Can't you get Jamie or someone else to baby sit it?"

"Lockheed gets lonesome without me," Kitty said. "Besides Jubilee's aunt won't mind."

"Wanna bet?" Logan rolled his eyes.

"As I was saying," Xavier decided to get back on track. "There have been a great deal of new mutant signatures popping up. This is a chance for you to find new recruits so I want all of you to keep your eyes open. Cerebro has some interesting mutant readings in California. One of them is this girl, Molly Hayes. Apparently she has super strength." He punched up the picture on the monitor. "She's been reported as a runaway along with another possible mutant."

"Possible mutant?" Kitty asked as Karolina's picture appeared.

"Cerebro isn't sure if she's a mutant at all," Xavier said. "Her readings are nothing like the others. But these are only two of several possible mutants."

"Several? Charles there are nearly 400 people on this list!" Logan gasped.

"Well then the odds are we're bound to run into at least **one** of them," Tabitha shrugged.

"Some of them we already have," Kitty pointed out. "Remember our friends from the theater?"

"I wonder how Rocker and the others are doing?" Rina thought aloud.

"We could always check up on them one day," Tabitha said. "Hollywood isn't that far from where Jubilee's aunt lives."

"Try to be discreet if you can," Xavier told them.

"Just try not to blow up the whole state will ya?" Logan said.

"No problem Badger," Tabitha waved. "We'll keep our powers under control."

"Famous last words…" Logan groaned.


	66. Sun, Sand and Insanity

** Sun, Sand and Insanity**

"Man look at this place!" Tabitha whistled. "It's like a palace!"

The girls had just arrived at Aunt Hope's. Her house easily rivaled the Institute in size. "And I thought the Institute was posh," Kitty was impressed. "Is that a real Picasso?"

"Yup," Brad nodded as he carried some of the bags. "One of three in Ms. Lee's collection."

"Whoa…" Tabitha gasped. "Really posh!"

"I hope you don't mind sharing two to a room," Aunt Hope said as she directed the girls through the house. "I decorated them myself. To be honest I have no idea what young girls like…"

"You say that as if it was that long ago you were a young girl," Brad smirked.

"Note the man who is being **paid** to work for me said that," Aunt Hope rolled her eyes. "Here's your room Jubilation," She opened the door.

The room assaulted Jubilee's very eyes in a shocking off scarlet blaze. From the walls to the curtains to the bedspread to the very carpet it looked like the inside of a Pepto Bismol bottle. "It's very…" Jubilee was in shock. "Pink."

"I think it's cool!" Kitty squealed.

"You would," Rahne rolled her eyes.

"You hate it don't you?" Aunt Hope asked.

"Hate is a…strong word," Jubilee struggled. "They're not all pink are they?"

"Afraid so," Aunt Hope sighed. "Personally it makes me want to retch."

"Then why…?" Tabitha began.

"Let's just say I did a stupid thing and listened to my interior designer who was more into pink than any female I have ever met," Aunt Hope told them. "Maybe it just needs a few…Personal touches."

"And a few fires," Brad grinned.

"I could help with that," Amara grinned.

"Amara!" Kitty glared at her. She looked at Aunt Hope. "She's kidding."

"Yeah," Brad chuckled. "Like Ms. Lee's never set a few fires in…"

Aunt Hope gave him a withering look. "I used to smoke," She explained quickly. "A **long** time ago. But I **don't **do that any more."

"Well I guess the first thing we should do is unpack," Paige sighed.

"Actually the first thing you should all do is take one of these," Aunt Hope picked up some small brightly colored bags. "They're for all of you while you're here."

"A cell phone!" Amara squealed as she took hers. "Cool!"

"I want you all to stay safe and I certainly can't expect you to all stay home with me every second of the day," Aunt Hope grinned. "So this is for you while you're here and I put in one extra thing for you Jubilation."

"An I pod!" Jubilee squealed. "Whoa! Thank you Aunt Hope!" She hugged her. She looked at it. "Whoa this thing has everything! This is so cool!"

"You're welcome," Aunt Hope grinned. "Now I have to go to a meeting so why don't all of you grab your swimsuits and I'll have Brad drop you off at the beach for the rest of the day?"

"Aunt Hope I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship!" Tabitha laughed.

"Let's hit the beach!" Jubilee grinned.

Soon the girls were at the local beach, relaxing in their swimsuits and admiring the sights. "Oh yeah," Tabitha grinned. "Now **that's **a sight you don't see in Bayville." She grinned at a very muscular surfer coming out of the water. "Jubes thank you oh so much for taking us on this trip!"

"We're supposed to be keeping our eyes open for new mutants," Rina reminded her.

"Come on X," Tabitha put on some sunscreen. "You gotta lighten up a little. Have some fun! Besides, our eyes aren't exactly closed." She gave a good look at some very buff lifeguards.

"Hey!" Paige said. "I thought you and Sam were going steady!"

"I may be dating your brother but I ain't dead," Tabitha pointed out. "I'm only looking. Kitty doesn't have a problem with it." She pointed to Kitty who was clearly ogling the lifeguards.

"I am not!" She protested.

"Then what's that drool doing hanging from your jaw?" Paige snickered.

"Geeze Kitty don't you have enough boyfriend trouble as it is?" Amara rolled her eyes.

"I thought she chose Lance," Rahne said. "Oh, I see your point."

"But she still desires Colossus," Rina folded her arms.

"What?" Tabitha shot up. "You serious?"

"I can smell it on her," Rina told them.

"No way!" Jubilee gasped. She looked at Kitty. "I can't believe you! I thought you were totally devoted to Lance!"

"I am! Sort of…" Kitty confessed weakly.

"**Sort** of?" Danielle looked at her.

"How can you 'sort of' be devoted to someone?" Paige asked.

"Look I really, really like Lance," Kitty said. "A lot! I'm in love with him. Most of the time…"

"And this is where Colossus comes in?" Tabitha asked.

"Sometimes I just can't help but think of Peter when I'm with Lance," Kitty admitted. "And when I was with Peter I couldn't help but think of Lance! It's like…Each of them had one vital thing that the other lacked. You get what I'm saying?"

"Yeah," Paige looked at her. "You're nuts."

"Hey!" Kitty protested. "I can't help the way I feel you know? It's not like I'm openly lusting after guys while I have a boyfriend! I'm not Tabitha you know?"

"Don't compare **me** to **you**," Tabitha said. "At least I'm honest about my lusting."

"She's right," Paige said. "You are way worse Kitty."

"Oh god…" Kitty fell back and covered her eyes with her hands. "You're right! How did I get into this mess? I'm supposed to be more mature than this! I mean, I can handle college level schoolwork. Fighting battles against bad guys who want to take over the world like Apocalypse, Magneto and Cobra? No problem! I mean I even handled my parent's divorce pretty well, considering that the two of them are completely messed up!"

"Well maybe that's where you get it from?" Tabitha asked. "Maybe it's genetic?"

"Yeah Kitty," Jubilee said. "Don't get us wrong, we love your folks but their love life is pretty…"

"Messed up," Paige finished.

"I mean look at the evidence," Jubilee said. "Your Dad is dating your best childhood friend's **uncle** and your mom…."

"My mom is dating a Misfit's cousin who is like half her age," Kitty groaned. "I get it! I get it!"

"I wish I was getting it like your mom," Tabitha whistled. "I mean damn girl I gotta give her props! Jesse D is hot!"

"Thanks a lot Tabitha!" Kitty rolled her eyes. "I so did **not** need that image right now!"

"Maybe it's the whole bad boy/forbidden fruit thing?" Amara thought aloud. "Think about it, Lance used to be in the Brotherhood and now the Misfits…"

"She's got a point there," Paige said. "I mean with your mom dating a younger man and your dad…"

"Oh god it **is** genetic!" Kitty wailed. "I'm doomed!"

"'Fraid So Kitty-Cat," Tabitha patted her shoulder. "You're doomed like Dr. Doomed De Doomed on Doomsday."

"And I thought **I** had problems," Rahne sighed.

"At least you **have** some kind of love life," Jubilee sighed. "Better to lose and love than not have anything at all. Or so something like that."

"Trust me, Aiden is **definitely **a loss," Rahne snorted.

"You mean there's no one you're interested in?" Tabitha asked Jubilee. "I thought there was Bobby?

"They broke up a few months ago," Kitty reminded her. "Remember? She caught him putting snow in her closet one too many times. So there's no one else?"

"I kind of like Everett," Jubilee admitted. "But…"

"But?" Kitty raised an eyebrow.

"I dunno, there's just something…Missing," Jubilee shrugged. "He's cute but, I don't know. I guess he's not my type."

A loud wolf whistle startled them. "Baby you is fine!" One muscle bound beach goer laughed as he walked by with his buddy. It was clear he had directed his comment at Rina.

"Why that…?" Rina growled.

"X, he was paying you a compliment," Tabitha said. "Still one can't just let an opportunity pass…"

While the two boys weren't looking Tabitha tossed some small energy bombs in the pockets of their shorts. Their intended result worked and soon two very embarrassed guys were trying to cover themselves rather unsuccessfully. "WHOO HOO!" Tabitha yelled as the boys ran away. "FULL MOON TONIGHT!"

"Tabitha! What part about keeping our powers hidden didn't you get?" Kitty hissed.

"Lighten up Kitty no one saw me," Tabitha waved. "When did you turn into Jean Jr.?"

"When the entire planet turned against us," Paige told her.

"Geeze you people are no fun at all," Tabitha grunted.

"**I** thought it was funny," Jubilee said. "Better than X going postal on them."

"It was amusing," Rina grinned.

"I'm going to get a soda," Rahne got up. "Anyone else want one?"

"We'll come with you," Amara said. Rina and Danielle went with her.

"I'm gonna just chill for a bit," Jubilee lay back on her blanket and started listening to her Ipod. She closed her eyes and started to relax. Suddenly the next thing she knew someone had yanked the earphones out of her ears. "HEY!" She turned and saw a lanky teen run off with her Ipod. "GIVE IT BACK CREEP!"

She tore off after him. Paige and Kitty followed while Rahne went to get the others. "Come on!" Jubilee shouted. "He went this way!"

The thief dodged in and out of the boardwalk while the girls pursued. For a moment they lost him among the crowd and the carnival games. "You two go left and right! I'll go this way!" Jubilee told them. They split up. Jubilee caught sight of the thief and followed. "Got you now you…"

At the end of the alley was the thief and seven other very big guys. "Looks like Slab brought something else back," One of them said.

"Give me back my Ipod now!" Jubilee snarled. She was too angry to think that taking on the gang alone was a bad idea.

"Yeah right!" Slab grunted.

"Is there a problem here?"

Jubilee turned around and behind her was a tall thin African American boy. He was bald wearing a blue bandana around his head and a gold earring in one ear. He was wearing a blue wife beater, low riding jeans and red sneakers as well as a fancy gold watch and a gold chain with a gaudy diamond encrusted S. On his arms were firebrand tattoos that ran from his wrist to his elbow.

"Yeah these creeps took my Ipod and I want it back!" Jubilee said.

"Well we can't always get what we want now can we?" The boy smirked.

"Look you Fifteen Cent wannabe…" Jubilee growled.

"That's Fifty Cent," The teen corrected.

"I know," Jubilee told him. "But Fifteen Cents looks like all **you're** worth."

"Oooohh!" The Gang hooted.

He stared at her hard. "You know, for someone so pretty you got a big mouth. You should watch it."

"Is that supposed to be **intimidating** or something?" Jubilee folded her arms. "I mean I have been threatened by eleven year olds who sound way scarier than that. Do me a favor cut the posturing, it's embarrassing."

"Shane, you gonna let her talk to you like that?" One of the cronies snarled.

"Chill T-Bone," Shane motioned. "I can handle a girl."

"I'm not so sure," Jubilee got in his face. "You might need your bodyguards. I've got a few tricks up my sleeves."

"My sleeves aren't exactly empty either," Shane said with a straight face. "I think I'll manage."

"Oh that's right," Jubilee mocked. "You're a big bad gangbanger with a gun. My mistake."

"For your information I don't carry a gun," Shane said. "Kind of thing the cops can bust you for."

"Jubilee!" Kitty ran with the other X-Girls. "You okay?"

"We got your back girlfriend," Tabitha made a fist.

"You have something that belongs to her," Rina growled. "Return it or else!"

"Or else what?" Slab snorted.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Rina sneered.

"X, no!" Jubilee put a hand on her arm. "Don't! He ain't worth it."

"This your gang?" Shane raised an eyebrow.

"You could say that," Jubilee told him. "Now are you going to give me back my stuff or is there gonna be a throw down?"

Shane looked at her for a minute. He motioned for the Ipod. He then handed it to Jubilee. "Here you go. Sorry. My man was just playing. Say sorry to the nice lady, Slab."

"Uh…Sorry," Slab looked surprised.

"Hmmph," Jubilee snorted. "Come on girls. Let's get outta here." The X-Girls walked away.

"Like he was so rude," Kitty fumed. "We should have turned him in."

"Guy like that would have been out on the streets in ten minutes," Jubilee shrugged. "Trust me, we hurt him more to dis him like that." She looked back at Shane.

Rina noticed this. "Why are you looking at him like that?"

"Like what?" Jubilee asked.

"Like you were interested in him," Rina said.

"What? I do **not** like him!" Jubilee exploded.

"Well he is cute," Tabitha said. "If you're into the gangster rapper type."

"I am so **not **into that type!" Jubilee snapped.

"You'd better not be," Kitty said. "Guys like that are nothing but trouble!"

"Look who's talking," Danielle rolled her eyes. "What about Lance?"

"Yeah he ain't exactly Mr. Honor Student either," Paige pointed out.

"That's…That's different!" Kitty said.

"Kitty come on, who are **you** fooling?" Tabitha snorted. "The day you guys met he conned you into helping him steal test scores and then trashed your old high school."

"Still nothing compared to Aiden," Rahne grumbled.

"I guess all girls like bad boys," Tabitha smirked.

"Well then how do you explain my brother?" Paige looked at Tabitha. "Oh wait, he's not the goody two shoes he pretends to be."

"Damn right he's not," Tabitha grinned. "You'd be surprised how many times we were able to make out in the elevator without anyone knowing."

"Don't be so sure," Amara gave her a look.

Meanwhile Shane was looking at Jubilee as she walked away. "You just let that girl get away with that?" Slab asked.

"She's got spunk," Shane grinned. "I like that. Besides she ain't the one that was stupid enough to get caught in the first place!" He glared at Slab.

"I thought it was an easy mark," Slab shrugged. "That ipod could have made some cool cash."

"How many times I gotta tell you?" Shane pointed his fingers so that they resembled a gun. "Cash and credit cards **only!** Everything else is just junk! And **never** do it in broad daylight! I mean the beach? It's like you were **asking** to get caught!"

"But I…" Slab gulped.

"And I don't like you pinching stuff from young girls either," Shane hissed. "One their eyesight is too good. Two, they usually ain't got enough cash. Especially when all they're wearing is bikinis! And three…Well there's better ways to get stuff from 'em. Ways that'll make 'em **want** to give things to you. Get my point?" Shane pushed his fingers into Slab's face.

"Yeah, yeah man, chill! Chill!" Slab was getting very nervous. "Point those things somewhere else man! I got it! I got it!"

"You'd better," Shane told him. "Or else you **will** get it."

To prove his point he casually shot out a small burst of energy from one of his fingers. It barely missed Slab's ear. "Man," T-Bone whistled. "No matter how many times I see it it's still cool."

"They don't call me Shane Shooter for nothin'. Let's go," Shane said. "We got places to go and things to do. Now that the Pride is gone there's a whole city just waiting for us."

**Next we go check on the Misfits and see how they're doing. We're going to meet our favorite Runaways as they stop a crime committed by some old friends! **


	67. My Little Runaways

**My Little Runaways**

"Nothing like a little bank robbery to chase the blues away," Zartan grinned as he hefted the moneybag on his shoulder.

"Told you it would be an easy job," Zanya snorted. The Dreadnoks had just robbed a bank in downtown LA. They exited the building loaded in cash and no relative hurry. Especially since the police hadn't shown up.

"This is great!" Monkeywrench laughed. "And there's not a cop in sight! Wonder why we didn't do this sooner?"

"Simple stupid," Zandar snorted. "Because this entire city was run by group of power mad maniacs called the Pride. Anyone that pulled a job without their permission got blasted into next century."

"Didn't Cobra pull off a few heists here?" Ripper scratched his head.

"Yeah but they had to get permission first," Zarana told them. "Now shut up and…Where's Road Pig with our ride?"

They looked around. "I told him to wait here for us!" Zartan grumbled. "If he's gone off on another donut run…"

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!"

The Dreadnoks turned and saw four teenage girls off to the side. "Put down the money," Nico Minoru told them. "We want to talk to the girl here."

"Yeah or we'll do a lot of real bad stuff to you guys if you don't!" Molly Hayes told them.

"We really gotta work on your vocabulary, Molly," Gertrude 'Gert' Yorkes groaned.

"Yeah like **you're** an expert at this," Karolina Dean snorted.

"Cor, look gang it's the Powerpuff Girls," Ripper snorted.

"Nah it's the Girl Scouts," Torch said. "I'll take a dozen cookies."

"Look the money's gotta go back," Nico said. "We have to take these guys out, but it's not too late for you."

"What are you talking about?" Zanya asked.

"She certainly don't mean me," Zarana snorted.

"Look," Nico said. "I don't know your story or how you ended up with these creeps but you don't have to do this. You can get away from this life. We can help you."

"What the hell is this?" Zanya snorted. "An after school special? Who the hell are you twits?"

"We're the Runaways," Molly told her. "We're superheroes!"

"Well I wouldn't go that far," Gert sighed.

"Runaways?" Zartan asked. "You're those brats who destroyed the Pride aren't you?"

"Technically…Yeah," Nico coughed.

"Wait a minute…" Buzzer pointed his thumb at them. "You telling us that the big bad Pride, this supposedly all powerful evil criminal organization…Was taken down by **that?"**

"A Goth, a Mall Princess, a little Baby and a fat cow caused all that trouble?" Zanya snorted. "That's rich!"

"I guess they don't make criminal syndicates like they used to," Monkeywrench shrugged.

"Who are **you** calling a baby?" Molly made a fist. "You're not **that** much older than I am!"

"You don't have to do this," Nico was trying to reason with Zanya. "You don't have to be like them. You're better than scum like this!"

"I'm starting to get insulted here," Torch sniffed.

"Scum? You traitors have the nerve to call **my family** scum? Look who's talking," Zanya snarled. "A bunch of spoiled princesses who turned against their own **parents** that gave them everything! Yeah like you really have a chance of getting me to turn against the Dreadnoks!"

"Dreadnoks…" Gert frowned. "I've heard of you."

"I thought that was something you wear on your head?" Molly asked.

"That's **dreadlocks**, Molly," Karolina rolled her eyes. "These are bad guys!"

"Yeah and we're gonna stomp all over your face!" Zanya put down her haul and rolled up her sleeves. "Dreadnoks…" The Dreadnoks readied their weapons.

"Oh forget it," Karolina took off her medic alert wristband. Suddenly her entire body was covered in a rainbow like aura. "Time to go to work!"

"Geeze they're muties!" Ripper prepared his laser.

"Actually I'm an extraterrestrial, technically…" Karolina flew into the air. "But I still find that word offensive!"

"Considering my daughter and I are mutants ourselves…" Zartan began before Karolina hit him hard with a rainbow blast. "OOF!"

"Daughter? You mean…?" Nico looked at Zanya.

"That's right," Zanya took a swing at her. "I'm one hundred percent loyal to my father!" She missed the first punch but managed to kick Nico. "That's a concept you turds would never understand."

"Here's something **you'll** never understand…" Nico narrowed her eyes. **_"When blood is shed…Let the staff of ONE emerge!" _**

A long staff with a gold orb and ring on top emerged from her chest. "Oh bloody hell…" Zanya's jaw dropped. "You're a freaking magic user ain't ya?"

"You bet," Nico held her staff. "STOP!"

"Can't…Move…" Zanya felt herself stiffen.

"That'll keep you in place for about an hour," Nico told her.

"Witches…" Zarana growled. "I **hate **witches!"

"You mean those besides you?" Zandar snickered.

"Just shut up and fight!" Zarana snapped as she dodged a blast from Karolina.

"I got this one here!" Ripper held up the bayonet portion of his rifle and attacked Molly.

Only to have his weapon shatter on impact. "That really wasn't very nice," Molly's eyes glowed a bright pink. Then she gave him an uppercut that caused Ripper to literally fly into a wall.

"Burn baby burn!" Torch lit up his flame-thrower.

"Let's get fatty over here," Monkeywrench grinned at Gert.

"I'm warning you," Gert told him. "You don't want to mess with me. Or else."  
"Oh what?" Torch snickered. "Bore us to death? Blind us with your bad fashion!"

"Not exactly," Gert grinned.

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAARRRRRRRRR!"

Torch and Monkeywrench turned around to see a very large dinosaur with very sharp fangs. "Okay…" Torch gulped. "I'm impressed."

"And I need a new pair of underwear…" Monkeywrench gulped. "If I was wearing underwear…"

"Sic 'em," Gert grinned. And it did.

"AAHHH! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!" Monkeywrench screamed.

"NO! MOMMY! HELP!" Torch screamed.

"Fat indeed," Gert snorted. "You guys should jog every now and then. Oh stop sobbing! You're not losing **that **much blood!"

"Run away! Run away!" Buzzer screamed as Molly swung a huge lamp post at him. She used it as a bat to thwack him into a wall.

"Somebody give me a hand here?" Zanya yelled as Karolina was blasting her and Zartan with her rainbow aura.

"Can't…Move…" Zandar's legs had been fused to the ground by a different spell.

"I am getting out of here!" Zartan made a break for it.

And ran straight into something hard and green that fell from the sky. "Oof!" He fell to the ground and was knocked out cold.

"Aw Man!" Chase stuck his head out the window. "I missed all the action! You promised you'd wait for me!"

"We would have but these guys were in a hurry," Gert told him. Sirens could be heard in the background. "And speaking of hurrying…Better get out of here before we get tossed in to Juvie or worse, back into foster care."

"But what about the girl?" Nico asked. "We can't just leave her to the cops!"

"She wasn't going to listen to us," Gert told her. "Looked like she'd made up her mind a long time ago where her loyalties are."

"Yeah the last thing we need is another Alex…" Karolina remarked. Then she caught the look on Nico's face. "Oh sorry Nico…I didn't…"

"No it's okay," Nico sighed. "You're right. He was a jerk. I mean he was in on the secrets from the Pride from the beginning and used me."

"He used **all **of us," Gert reminded her. "We'd better high tail it outta here before the cops arrive."

"Hey Nico you have your staff out," Chase noticed as the Runaways boarded the vehicle. "But don't you need to bleed or something to use it? I mean you're not hurt or anything?"

"No I'm fine," Nico told him.

"Well then how…?" Chase began. A look from Nico cut him off. "Oh…That time of the month huh?"

Nico glared at him and stormed inside. Karolina also gave him a look. "Idiot," She snapped.

"What did I say?" Chase asked.

"What **didn't** you say?" Molly told him. "Well at least we stopped the bank robbery."

"And all we had to do was destroy an entire street in the process," Karolina quipped as she looked at the damage.

"But we still are superheroes," Molly wasn't to be deterred. "Maybe we should get costumes?"

"We've been over this Mol," Chase took over the controls and piloted the Leapfrog away. "Nobody wants costumes!"

"I'm a freaking rainbow! What do I need a costume for?" Karolina told them.

"If you don't all shut up and pass me some aspirin I'm going to blast you all into next week!" Nico shouted.

"If we are heroes, we must be the **worst** superhero group ever," Gert groaned.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Two hours later…

"They trashed the **Dreadnoks?"** Althea's eyebrows raised. "Damn, I think I might like these kids."

"Yeah like they're so tough to beat," Fred scoffed as the Misfits entered the police station with Roadblock. "Who **hasn't **beaten the Dreadnoks up?"

"You must be that group sent to pick up our special guests?" One officer said. "I'm Officer Stewart."

"Roadblock and these are the Misfits," Roadblock indicated. "So where are they?"

"Uh…Well…" Officer Stewart showed them the cells. The problem was that they had a huge hole in them. "A funny thing happened after we called you…"

"Let me guess," Roadblock sighed. "The Dreadnoks broke out of jail didn't they?"

"Ten minutes after they got thrown in," Officer Stewart told them. "Some huge guy with a pink Mohawk busted in with this massive truck. I think he was drunk or something because he was arguing with himself about going off to get donuts."

"Or something yeah," Roadblock sighed. "Do you know who put them in here in the first place?"

"It the Runaways," Officer Stewart groaned. "Could tell by the damage they left."

"You don't like them much do you?" Althea asked.

"You want my personal opinion?" Officer Stewart said. "These kids may have good intentions but since they're the ones who caused the mess in the first place…"

"By turning in their parents who were controlling the entire state?" Althea asked.

"I'm not saying their parents were saints but crime was bad enough in this town when things were organized," Officer Stewart said. "Half the detectives in this station alone were busted for being crooked. We're seriously undermanned and the every Gregory Gangbanger and Stan Safecracker knows it. It's become a real free for all out there and it's getting worse day after day."

"Hey at least those kids are trying to clean up the mess," Another officer shrugged. "They got at least half our collars for us last week."

"Yeah and they're at it again!" Another officer ran in. "Runaways have been sighted near the warehouse district. A silent alarm went off a minute before they were spotted."

"Boy and I thought **we **had busy nights," Fred remarked.

"Let's roll," Althea told her team.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"You said this was going to be easy man!" Slab shouted as the gang ran.

"It would have been if you did like I told you and **not** tripped the stupid alarm!" Shane growled at him. "But noooo! You had to check that back room out…"

"I thought there was some real cash back there," Slab grumbled as they rounded the corner. They dodged a few bullets. "Geeze! Payne's crew really needs to work on their aim!"

"Yeah but not on **us!"** Shane snapped. "WHOA!" He skidded to a halt when something huge and green looking like a giant frog landed in front of them. "What the hell is this? Kermit's Pimp Ride?"

"Okay! Fun's over!" Karolina flew out.

"Time to Rock and Roll Old Lace!" Gert laughed as she rode her dinosaur out of the Leapfrog. The other Runaways got out.

"Down Dino," Shane shot off some energy bullets at Old Lace.

"Yipes!" Gert yelled as Old Lace dodged them.

"He's a mutant too!" Molly shouted.

"Boss we got trouble!" T-Bone shouted as the gang they were running from caught up to them.

"Back off Freakshow!" One of them shouted. "These guys are ours!"

"Forget it and shoot 'em all!" Another shouted.

"You wanna throwdown Payne?" Shane snarled. "You got…What the hell?"

"All right!" Althea shouted as she and the Misfits made their appearance. "Everyone put your weapons down and stop fighting!"

"Or you can just fight us!" Fred flexed his muscles. "We're the Misfits!"

"Aren't those the army mutants?" Gert shouted.

"Mutants from the **army?"** Slab shouted. "You gotta be &! &-ing me!"

"This night is getting better and better…" Shane grumbled.

**Next: A big ol' gang fight and a lotta fun! **


	68. Another Night, Another Buttload of Troub

**Another Night, Another Buttload of Trouble**

"THIS…IS…**NUTS!"** Shane shouted as he fired several energy bullets at anyone who was shooting at him.

The scene was one of absolute chaos. Bullets were firing everywhere, many of them bouncing harmlessly off of Fred's body. Chase had some strange gauntlets on his hands that shot out fire at the gang members. Wanda and Nico were using their powers to hex people and objects so many guns exploded. Spyder shocked several people with her powers and Trinity flew around zapping people with their psychic lightning. Old Lace was chasing more gang members around with Molly on her back. Angelica was using her fire powers to try and stop the fighting as well. Anyone who tried to attack Lina got a good dose of her silken spray right in the face. Todd slimed several gang members and everyone else was either kicking, punching or in Gert's case whacking everyone with a shovel.

"Who are these guys?" Karolina yelled indicating the Misfits.

"The Misfits are army mutants! Good guys!" Molly shouted.

"So don't shoot 'em!" Chase shouted.

"Fine with me!" Gert whacked a gang member who tried to tackle her.

"Misfits don't fire at the Runaways!" Althea ordered.

"Shooter what do we do?" T-Bone yelled.

"SHOOT EVERYBODY!" Shane shouted as he fired off rounds at rival gang members, Runaways and Misfits alike.

"Good idea!" A rival gang member shot at him. Shane dodged it as well as some slime from Todd. "Yuk! What the heck kind of attack is that?"

Meanwhile Nico decided to try a spell. "Dazzle!" She ordered. Clearly it was intended to blind the combatants.

Unfortunately Wanda was trying to hex Shane who dodged and managed to hit Nico's magic at the same time. Suddenly a huge glowing ball appeared amid the street right in the center of the melee.

"Uh oh…" Wanda blinked.

"Uh oh…" Nico gulped.

**"Uh oh?"** Shane shouted. "What does **that **mean?"

"As Roadblock would say…" Todd gulped. "When magics collide, EVERYBODY RUN AND HIDE!"

"Not again!" Lance dove out of the way.

"Oh freaking…." Shane noticed the ball was glowing very brightly. He started to run away with several other gang members.

"HIT THE DIRT!" Nico shouted. "INTO THE LEAPFROG!"

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

As the dust cleared the first thing Todd saw was the Leapfrog taking off into the sky. "Smart move…" He grumbled. "Wish I thought of it…"

"So did they," Lance sat up and pointed to dozens of gang members from both gangs lying around.

"I can't believe I'm still alive…" T-Bone moaned. "I can't believe I'm still alive!"

"Take me to jail…" One of the gang members lying on the ground moaned. "Please take me to jail."

"Okay Jesus," T-Bone groaned. "I get the message. I'm gonna go become a minister!"

"Is that all of them?" Pietro groaned.

"Ain't that **enough?"** Angelica asked.

"I don't see that mutant with the gun like powers," Fred said. "And there's a bunch more gang members running away over there."

"Let 'em go," Althea looked at all the dazed gang members. "We've got plenty to hand over to the cops."

"Amazing grace…" T-Bone sang in a dazed voice. "How sweet the sound…"

"Where did the Runaways go?" Wanda asked.

"Got in their big hoppy thing and split," Todd rubbed his head.

"Okay," Althea looked around. "Where's my sisters?"

"Aren't they here?" Angelica asked as she looked.

"Don't see 'em," Lance said. "Where's Spyder?"

"She's not here either," Wanda said. "You don't think…?"

"I have a very bad feeling about this…" Althea groaned.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Okay that was just plain nuts," Gert sighed as the Leapfrog landed back at the Hostel, the Runaways secret headquarters. It was hidden right under the LaBrea Tarpits. "What did that girl hit your magic with Nico?"

"I don't know but whatever it was it was powerful," She sighed. "I think we've done enough for the night."

"Enough damage yeah," Karolina yawned. Just then Old Lace recovered from her daze and started to sniff around. She moved to the back of the vehicle were there were some blankets piled up. "What's got into your dinosaur?"

"Old Lace…What do you smell girl?" Gert asked.

"HI THERE!" Trinity popped out of the back, throwing off the blankets.

"Hey!" Spyder popped up too.

"AAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Gert screamed.

"Great! Just great…" Karolina was stunned. "Stowaways!"

"Oh man we are so busted…" Chase winced.

"Maybe this isn't as bad as it looks?" Molly asked.

"Oh sure," Karolina rolled her eyes. "Just because our secret headquarters got **broken into** by four kids…"

"I bet this never happens to Batman," Chase muttered.

"Batman isn't real you idiot!" Gert snapped. "We have a big problem here!"

"We're Trinity!" The Triplets chirped.

"I'm Daria!"

"I'm Quinn!"

"I'm Brittany!" She grinned at Chase and then gave him a hug. "And you are cute!"

"Back off shorty!" Gert snapped. "He's spoken for!"

"Really?" Spyder looked at them.

"They're always snogging," Molly snickered. She looked at Spyder. "Wow you're all gray."

"It's my mutation. I'm Spyder," She said. "I can also stick to walls as well as shoot out electric webbing. We're mutants."

"We kind of figured that," Nico sighed. "What are you doing in our ride?"

"You said hide inside the Leapfrog," Daria pointed out.

"I was talking to **our **group," Nico felt a headache coming on. "What is your group doing here?"

"We're part of the Misfits," Brittany explained. "We're army mutants. Well most of us."

"Arcade is human," Quinn explained. "He was the one with the glasses and the electric taser who bit that one guy on the shoulder."

"So you kids are locked up and work for the army?" Chase asked. "That's harsh."

"It's not that bad. My old man dumped me and I ran around on the streets for months before these guys took me in," Spyder said. "They're okay."

"We were born on an army base," Brittany explained. "Along with our older sister and baby brother."

"What your old man is some evil scientist or something?" Gert asked.

"Nah our Daddy's not evil," Quinn shook her head.

"He's just a moron who drinks a lot," Daria said. "But I gotta admit he's a fun drunk."

"He's not that bad a drunk," Brittany defended. "He just started hitting the sauce real bad after Mommy ran off with that rich guy who lives in Atlantis."

"You mean Atlanta," Karolina corrected.

"No, she means Atlantis," Daria corrected her.

"Your mom ran off with someone who lives a casino in the Bahamas?" Chase asked.

"No Silly-Billy," Quinn said. "He lives in the real underwater city of Atlantis. I think he's some kind of duke there."

"Mom got tired of living in a tank," Daria said. "Well, that and all the times we kind of set the house on fire."

"Living in a tank?" Nico blinked.

"A water tank," Daria explained.

"She was a former Cobra soldier who volunteered for an experiment and ended up not being able to breathe out of the water," Brittany took up.

"Daddy met her on an island and kept going back there for midnight swims," Quinn nodded.

"Soon they had to get married when our big sister was about to be born," Brittany continued.

"She likes kissing in the water too," Daria smirked. "Our big sister I mean. She's always trying to see her boyfriend naked in the shower."

" This is a nice place. Do you have any extra plutonium?" Brittany asked innocently.

"I'm starting to see **why **their dad drinks and their mom took off…" Chase whispered to Gert.

"Still it's pretty harsh to lock kids up and force them to work for the Army," Karolina said. "These guys sound pretty cruel."

"They are **not**," Quinn said. "They take care of us and in return we blow up a bunch of stuff and don't burn their base to the ground."

"We even have a spaceship," Spyder nodded.

"Cool!" Molly squealed. "Let me show you around the place!"

"MOLLY!" Karolina yelled as the girls ran off. "NO! NO! COME BACK HERE! NO EXPOSING OUR SECRETS TO STRANGERS!"

"Worst superhero team **ever…"** Gert groaned. Old Lace moaned in sympathy.

"We really should get a lock for this thing," Nico sighed.

BAM!

"Oops!" Brittany remarked as something caught on fire. "Hope that wasn't expensive!"

"Maybe some kids **do **belong locked up on an army base?" Chase groaned.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

While all this was going on, Jubilee was talking to Logan on the phone. "They all went out a couple hours ago," She told him. "Trying to see if they can find any mutants."

"And you stayed home?" Logan asked.

"Kitty insisted on driving."

"Ah," Logan nodded even though Jubilee couldn't see him. "Smart move."

"Besides I wanted to finish up on my summer reading," Jubilee looked at her book, The Mousetrap. "Don't tell Beast I said this, but I gotta admit I'm getting kind of hooked on Agatha Christie. I'm glad he made us read this."

"Don't worry, I won't encourage him."

"So how are things back home?" Jubilee asked.

"Well Wings is trying to get his company back by talking to the Board of Directors and the stockholders," Logan told her. "Personally I think it's a lost cause but it's his money."

"Maybe my Aunt Hope can help?" Jubilee asked. "She's working late tonight but I can ask her if she knows any good lawyers when she gets back. Anything new with the Misfits?"

"No, they haven't shown up the past couple of nights," Logan told her. "Not that there's not enough chaos going around here. Berzerker and Sunspot are going at it again and Multiple's on his directing dream again."

"Naturally he's egging the two on to get more footage," Jubilee concluded.

"Got it in one. Oh and Beast went out with that reporter lady of his the other night to an opera," Logan continued. "That's another lost cause we gotta deal with!"

"Yeah well anything's better than the whole Lance/Kitty/Peter thing," Jubilee sighed. "She's been whining about it the whole trip!"

"Do I really want to know what she's thinking of **now?" **

"Not really."

"Good," Logan sighed. "Oh great. I gotta go. Skullfire and Dead Girl just ran by with a lot of toilet paper and I think I hear Rogue and Betsy threatening to kill someone. Say hi to Rina for me will ya?"

"Will do," Jubilee grinned. "Have fun!" She snickered as she put down the phone. "Some things never change."

Just then the doorbell rang. "Now who could that be?" She got up to answer it.

To her shock it was Shane standing there. His clothes were torn and he looked very haggard. "Hey. I was in the neighborhood and I thought I'd drop in."

"You! What are **you **doing here?" Jubilee asked. "How did you find me?"

"I followed you the other day," Shane admitted. "Wanted to know where you live."

"What? So you could challenge me?" Jubilee folded her arms.

"Do I **look **ready for a throw down with you?" Shane threw up his arms. "Believe me, I'm **done** fighting for the night!"

"What happened to you?" Jubilee looked at him.

"Don't ask…" Shane groaned. "Please girl just don't ask."


	69. Learning About People is Fun

**Learning About People is Fun**

"I can't believe Jubilee gave up a night on the town!" Kitty laughed as she drove the car thought the streets of LA.

"That's because she's **smart!"** Rahne yelled as she hung on for dear life. "STOP THE CAR! STOP THE CAR!"

"Why?" Kitty pulled over.

"Because I'm going to have a heart attack that's why!" Rahne snapped at her.

"Land! Land!" Amara jumped out of the car and knelt on the ground. "Sweet, sweet land!"

"I wish you guys would really quit giving me a hard time about my driving!" Kitty snapped. "I am not that bad!"

"Kitty you phased the car through not one but **three **cars while moving in and out of the lanes!" Danielle pointed out. "I think you gave someone a heart attack! And I thought I had the power to scare people!"

"Speaking of which," Paige pointed. "Look over there!"

The Misfits were standing on the street looking around. "Where the hell could they be?" Althea was furious.

"I don't know, but I am getting some great pictures!" Xi was happily taking pictures of the nervous passerby with a digital camera. "Smile Lance!"

"I will kill Psyche-Out for giving you that camera," Lance grumbled.

"If Roadblock hasn't already done so when he went back to the Pit," Wanda said.

"What the heck are the Misfits doing here?" Paige asked.

"We might as well find out," Kitty sighed as they walked over to them. "Hey, what's going on?"

"Oh the usual," Pietro replied. "Wandering aimlessly, getting autographs…"

"Picture!" Xi took a picture of the girls.

"Xi's been on a photo kick lately," Fred explained. "It's part of his therapy. Don't ask."

"We weren't planning to," Rahne sighed.

"So what are you doing?" Wanda asked.

"Looking for new mutants," Amara shrugged.

"What a coincidence," Xi snapped another picture. "So are we."

"Specifically my sisters, Spyder and the Runaways," Althea told them.

"The **who?"** Tabitha asked.

Althea gave them a quick recap of their mission and what happened earlier that evening. "We think they snuck aboard their giant frog ship and followed them back to their base."

"Can't you use the tracking devices placed in their teleportation watches?" Rina asked.

"We would but for some reason the signal is being blocked," Althea said. "Which means that they can't communicate with us or worse."

"What could be worse than your sisters and Spyder not being able to communicate with us?" Wanda asked.

"That they don't **want** to communicate with us," Althea told her.

"Which means they must have found some interesting toys…" Lance put it together.

"Oh lord no…" Kitty's face went white.

"They've got a dinosaur right?" Rahne looked worried. "Oh great! Just what we bloody need! Another Princess Fluffietta Tinkerbell incident!"

"Another **what?"** Kitty looked at her.

"It's a long story…" Angelica sighed.

"It was Firestar's Day Off," Althea remarked. "While the rest of us were on that No Mutant is An Island thing."

"Let's just say the end result was half of Europe getting trashed along with Muir Island…" Rahne told them.

"Yikes," Paige winced.

"Dr. Doom's castle getting covered in toilet paper…" Angelica added.

"Double yikes," Danielle winced.

"Trashing Emma Frost's hotel room," Angelica continued.

"Not to mention a very messy encounter with some sheep in Wales…" Rahne went on.

"Okay! Okay! We get the picture!" Kitty threw up her hands. "We gotta find them before they do something to trash all of LA!"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"GET OFF MY DINOSAUR YOU LITTLE MANIACS!" Gert screamed at Trinity.

"WHEEE!" They rode a very frightened Old Lace around. Molly and Spyder were running around laughing. The Hostel was covered in toilet paper and silly string and smelled of smoke from the few fires that were started.

"Give me back my pants!" Chase stormed after them wearing nothing but his boxers.

"Not that I'm not enjoying the view," Gert groaned as she untangled herself from some silly string. "We gotta do something! These girls are out of control!"

"Where did they get all those pixie sticks?" Karolina asked. "And how did they eat so many so fast?"

"Nico can't you just freeze them?" Chase asked. "You know, like before?"

"It's a magic staff of power, not a remote control," Nico told him. "It needs to recharge especially after the workout it got tonight! Andyou know I can't use the same spell twice during a certain period of time."

"Besides we can't use our full powers on 'em," Gert said. "They're just kids."

ZAP!

"Oops!" Spyder yelled. "What did I just short out?"

"Just Arsenic's parents time machine," Molly said. "Don't worry it doesn't work anymore."

BOOM!

"And it looks like it will never work again," Brittany remarked.

"Evil demonic Hell spawn kids," Gert's eye twitched. "We gotta send these kids back where they came from."

POW!

"Ooh! Pretty blue smoke," Molly cheered. "Do it again, Spyder!"

"I think I have a pretty good idea where they came from," Chase grumbled as he retrieved his pants from the rafters. "Got 'em! Whoa!" He fell down. "I'm okay…"

"Yeah, but then they might bring the others back to the Hostel," Nico said.

"Assuming that the Hostel is still standing," Gert told her. "FOR CRYING OUT LOUD HOW DID **THAT** FIRE START?"

"You have a point," Karolina grabbed the fire extinguisher again.

"WHEEE!" Trinity was flying around carrying Molly.

"Giddyap!" Spyder was now riding Old Lace.

"And to think for a minute I felt sorry for those kids for living on an army base," Gert groaned.

"Never thought I'd feel so bad for the Army," Nico groaned. "Keeping those maniacs here is out of the question!"

"We're bringing them back…" Gert had a look in her eyes. "I swear to God we are bringing them back even if we have to look for their group all night!"

"Maybe we could get them to take Molly?" Chase groaned.

"I heard that!" Molly shouted.

BANG! BOOM!

"DID YOU JUST PUT A DENT IN THE LEAPFROG?" Chase screamed. "THAT'S IT! GET ME MY FIRE GAUNTLETS! YOU'RE DEAD!"

"Uh…" Spyder gulped. "Maybe we should go home now?"

"Okay! We love ya! Bye Bye!" Trinity chirped. They used their teleportation watches to disappear with Spyder.

"Did they just…?" Chase blinked. "How did they…?"

"WHO CARES!" Gert whooped. "They're gone!"

"But what if they come back?" Nico asked.

"Then we run!" Chase told them. "Run away as fast as we can!"

"Sounds like a plan to me," Gert sighed.

"But they were a lot of fun!" Molly whined. "I want them to come back again!"

"You know Chase…" Gert's eye twitched. "Maybe we **should **let them take Molly!"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Jubilee sighed. "I'll have the cheese fries."

"Make it a jumbo plate," Shane told the waitress. They were in a small diner a few blocks from the house. "So…Uh…You from around here?"

"Smooth Shane," Jubilee smirked. "You know just what to say to the ladies."

"Okay so I don't date much," Shane admitted.

"I guess running a gang does take a lot out of your social life."

"Well…Yeah," Shane shrugged. "So are you? From here I mean?"

"Yes I'm from LA," Jubilee said. "But I've been living in New York since my parents…died."

"Oh," Shane said. "Sorry."

"Yeah well…" Jubilee sighed. "I know we never got along much. We…disagreed on a lot of things. I even ran away from home for a few months and lived in a mall before…Well before I went to this boarding school."

"You were homeless?" Shane blinked.

"I prefer to call myself a temporary mall resident," Jubilee told him. "Long story short they died, I became somebody's foster kid and I'm visiting my wealthy aunt. But it's okay. I mean the guy who's looking after me is pretty cool and his daughter is like a sister to me now. So what's your story?"

"Pretty typical," Shane shrugged. "Mom had me in her teens. My dad took off before I was born. Mom got addicted to drugs and died cause of 'em. That's why I can't stand 'em. Lived with my grandmother. When she died I moved in with my uncle. He was pretty cool I guess. Didn't beat me or nothin'. Then again he wasn't exactly a perfect role model. Let's just say he liked to play the ponies more than he should have. Took off a couple of months ago to hide from his bookie and I haven't heard from him since."

"Wow…That's pretty rough," Jubilee said.

"It's a'ight," Shane waved. "I mean he left me with his apartment and as long as I pay rent nobody's gonna call social services or nothin'. I do okay."

"How old are you?" Jubilee asked.

"Seventeen," Shane shrugged. "Dropped outta school when I was sixteen. I wasn't learning nothing. Didn't need it. I applied myself, put my plans in motion and went into the workforce. Now I run my own crew. I'm a self made man."

"I wouldn't exactly call what you do being part of the workforce," Jubilee smirked.

"Depends on how you look at it," Shane shrugged. "Not all of us are debutantes ya know?"

"Puh-leeze," Jubilee rolled her eyes. "Do I look like princess material to you?"

"You look fine to me," Shane grinned. "Uh…"

"Yeah well…" Jubilee shrugged, slightly embarrassed. "I used to want to be a gymnast."

"No kidding? You any good?"

"Top notch. Could have probably gone to the Olympics but things…Well lets just say life got in my way."

"Speaking of which," Shane noticed something. "We got trouble."

"What?" Jubilee asked as she looked over her shoulder. Seven large beefy gang members had walked into the diner.

"This night just keeps getting better," Shane groaned. "Girl get under the table and stay there!"

"No way," Jubilee said. "I'm tougher than I look!"

"Don't argue with me girl!" Shane shouted as he saw them pull out some guns at him. "GET DOWN!"

Without thinking both Jubilee and Shane reacted as the guns started to fire. Both of them used their powers to shoot at and blind their attackers. "They're **both **freaks!" One of the gang members clutched his wounded arm. "Get 'em!"

"**You're** a **mutant?"** Both of them shouted at each other.

Two of the gang members who had dropped their guns advanced on them with machetes. Jubilee did a flip and kicked the weapons out of their hands. Then she did a back flip, landing behind another one who was shooting at Shane and punched him out. "Told you I was good in gymnastics!"

"Yeah now let's see how you do in the three mile dash!" Shane grabbed her hand and they ran out the door. The sound of sirens could be heard. They managed to shake their pursuers in the confusion. They finally stopped to catch their breath a few blocks away.

"That was…some date," Jubilee panted.

"You didn't have to do that," Shane told her.

"Yeah well since they decided to shoot at me too, I kind of did!" Jubilee told him. "So…You're a mutant too?"

"Yeah. This school in New York," Shane looked at her. "It wouldn't happen to be that Xavier place I keep hearing about on the news is it?"

"Yup," Jubilee panted.

"And that bald guy who runs the joint is your foster dad?"

"Nope," Jubilee shook her head. "The big hairy dude with the claws is."

"Not the blue guy?"

"No, that's Dr. McCoy. The **other** big hairy dude with claws. The metal ones."

"The one called Wolverine?"

"That's him?"

"And he has a kid?"

"Well technically she's his clone, but yeah. She's my foster sister."

"**Clone?** You're joking?"

"Nope. One hundred percent Wolverine only without the Y chromosome. And some extra claws in her feet."

"Jeez…" Shane leaned back against the wall. "And I thought **I **ran around with some crazy dudes! You're right, you **are** tougher than you look!"

"You have to be if you fight evil mutants and other crazies every other day," Jubilee sighed. "And to think, I came to LA to get a **vacation** from that!"

"I think we'd better split up," Shane sighed.

"Good idea," Jubilee ran off. "Goodbye!"

"No, I meant…" Shane shouted after her but she was too fast. "Damn…What a girl. Damn it, Shane forget her, she's way out of your league. Course now that I say it aloud…That makes me want her even more!"


	70. Everybody's Got Some Secrets

**Everybody's Got Some Secrets**

"Well **that **was a fun night," Althea grumbled as the Misfits and X-Girls returned to Aunt Hope's house. "Four hours and it's nearly three in the morning and still no sign of the girls."

"It appears there's no sign of Jubilee either," Xi took some pictures of the house as they entered.

"Hey Jubes! We're back! Jubes?" Tabitha called out.

"Where's Jubilee?" Danielle looked around. "We left her behind."

"Let me guess, she found out Kitty was driving and chickened out?" Pietro asked.

"Smartened up is more like it," Paige told him.

Just then Trinity and Spyder walked in from the kitchen with some ice cream bowls. "Hey guys! Where's have you been?"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Althea screamed.

"Getting ice cream," Spyder showed her.

"Ask a stupid question," Pietro slapped his forehead.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW LONG WE'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU?" Althea shouted.

"We were worried about you!" Lance snapped. "We scoured half the city trying to find you!"

"We're sorry," Daria looked sad. "We were just playing with our new friends."

"By 'new friends' I take it you mean the Runaways?" Lance asked.

"Uh huh," Spyder nodded. "They're really nice. The older kids are real jumpy though."

"Before I kill all of you…" Althea said carefully. "You might want to answer these next questions carefully. Were you in the Runaways' lair?"

"Yes," Quinn said.

"They call it the Hostel," Daria told them.

"It's a real cool place," Brittany said. "Filled with all kinds of things that are nice and loud. And burn pretty well."

"And is this Hostel still standing?" Wanda asked.

"More or less," Spyder shrugged.

"Did you use your teleportation watches to leave?" Althea asked.

"Yes," Daria said.

"Then you know where it is!" Althea said. "The watches automatically program any locations you teleport to and from to!"

"Uh…" Spyder looked at Trinity.

"Normally yes…" Quinn gulped.

"But in this case no…" Daria said.

"They kind of got…" Brittany was hesitant. "Erased."

"ERASED!" All the Misfits shouted.

"And how did **that** happen?" Pietro shouted.

"Accident?" Daria shrugged.

"Accident my Aunt Ralph!" Fred shouted. "You did that on purpose!"

"Aunt Ralph?" Rahne blinked.

"Don't ask…" Tabitha sighed.

"AAHHHHGGGG!" Althea was close to tearing her hair out. "When we get home you four are in such trouble…"

Just then Jubilee wandered in. "What's going on? HEY!" She flinched when Xi took a picture of her. "Xi!"

"Say cheese!" Xi said happily.

"Looks like we're not the only ones out all night," Arcade remarked.

"Where did you go?" Paige asked.

"We thought you were going to stay here?" Danielle asked.

"Yeah but uh, I just had to get some fresh air," Jubilee shrugged. "You know. Just take a walk."

"Wait a minute…" Rina sniffed. "That scent…I know that scent…You weren't alone! It was that …"

Just then Aunt Hope staggered in with Brad supporting her. "Uh Hello," Brad gulped. "What's going on here?"

"Uh, nothing…" Jubilee said.

"Hello!" Xi took a picture.

"Xi will you cut it out with that thing?" Wanda snapped. "Sorry. He's like a little kid with a new toy."

"What's wrong with her?" Tabitha asked.

"Uh…I don't feel well…" Hope hiccuped.

"I smell alcohol," Rina waved her hand in front of her nose.

"She had too much to drink at the meeting," Brad told them. "She's not feeling well so I took her home. I'm gonna put her to bed now."

"Sorry Jubilation…" Hope struggled to retain some dignity. "I'll think I'll sleep in tomorrow…Good night." They left the room.

"Well that was odd," Spyder blinked.

"Notice everywhere we go all the adults do is drink?" Quinn asked.

"Gee I wonder **why?"** Pietro glared at the girls.

"Come on!" Althea grabbed Daria and Quinn by the arms. "We're going home!"

"Yeah and I hope for your sakes you girls better remember where the Runaways are," Lance dragged Spyder along. "Or else Roadblock is really gonna blow a gasket!"

"Sorry about this y'all," Todd said as he grabbed Brittany. "See ya!" The Misfits then teleported away.

"You know we run around with the weirdest people," Paige remarked.

"Well duh," Danielle remarked.

"Okay so now that the Misfits and your Aunt have gone," Rina looked at Jubilee. "Want to tell me what you were doing with that Shane character we met the other day and why you smell like gunpowder?"

"WHAT?" All the other X-Girls yelled.

"Uh, it's kind of a funny story…" Jubilee gulped and she told them.

"Let me see if I get this straight," Kitty looked at her. "While we were roaming around the city looking for Trinity and Spyder, you got involved in a shoot out with some gangsters? And one of them was that guy from the other day and **he's** a **mutant?"**

"That's pretty much it," Jubilee shrugged.

"You know if Logan ever finds out about this you're dead right?" Amara asked her. "Not to mention your aunt."

"Are you crazy?" Jubilee hissed. "I don't wanna worry Aunt Hope. Especially if she isn't feeling well!"

Meanwhile in Hope's bedroom…

"I told you splashing you with all that alcohol was a good idea," Brad carefully checked the bandages on Hope's left side.

"Great now my niece thinks I'm a drunk," Hope winced.

"Somehow I think they might be used to people who drink a lot of alcohol," Brad smirked. "Well if you want we could always tell them the truth."

"Are you insane?" Hope grunted. "Yes, let's tell my niece I got shot while fighting off the henchmen of my former employer. **That **will impress her!"

"Maybe you should tell her? You know, about everything."

"No," She told him. "Not until this is all over anyway. And don't **you** say anything to her!"

"Hey, I value my hide way too much to do that," Brad grinned. "So now what's the plan?"

"Give me a day to recover," Hope growled. "Then we're going to make a little visit to Ang. Nobody shoots me and gets away with it!"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Meanwhile across the country, the Hellions were attending the Massachusetts Academy Annual Summer Fling Dance. Evan was dancing with Yvonne and they were the envy of the academy.

"And now…" Solomon O'Sullivan announced. "This year's king and queen of the dance…Evan Daniels and Yvonne Bloom Frost!"

It seemed like a picture perfect evening as they were both crowned and began their dance. In the background were the lights and pictures flashing behind them showing the glory of the campus. It was a perfect moment.

A moment that was ruined in a second by a loud collective gasp.

Evan heard it and for a moment thought that his fly was open the way everyone was staring at him. Until he noticed that a lot of people were staring at the screen behind him. And so was Yvonne. She seemed to be in shock. Evan looked up and saw why.

FIVE-YEAR OLD GIRL MURDERS PARENTS IN BED The headline of a newspaper was shown on the screen behind them for everyone to see. Beneath that was a picture of a small child being led into a police station.

The girl was Yvonne.

A loud giggle got Evan's attention as he whirled around seeing Tarot and Monet looking very pleased with themselves. "That's right everyone," Tarot shouted. "Your queen murdered her parents when she was only five years old and spent nearly all her life in the loony bin!"

"I knew you were vindictive Monet," Evan hissed. "But I thought better of you Tarot! How could you do this?"

"Serves you right for dumping me," Tarot gloated. "Now you know exactly what your girlfriend is!"

"I already knew," Evan told her evenly. "And that's not the whole story! She was framed! It was…"

"That's enough Evan," Yvonne said quietly. "You don't have to defend me."

"Yes I do!" Evan told her.

"No, you don't…" Yvonne had a strange look in her eyes. "Because I'm perfectly capable of defending **myself!"**

"What are you going to do? Kill me like you killed your parents?" Tarot sneered.

"You say that like it's a bad thing!" Bevatron yelled. "Hell she can wipe out my parents and I wouldn't care!"

"I don't need my powers to take **you** on!" Yvonne screamed as she lunged at Tarot. Soon both girls were kicking and fighting. The whole school was egging them on.

Evan glared at Monet. "You've made a huge mistake Monet."

"Why because you're a little mad?" Monet laughed. Then she felt a cold hand on her shoulder.

"No…Cause you hurt **my **sister!" Catseye hissed as she changed into lion form and knocked her down.

"Bring it on Kitty cat!" Monet floated in the air. "I've been waiting for this!" She then dove at Catseye who clawed and scratched at her. "MY HAIR!"

"All right! Now this is a dance!" Beef whooped.

"Place your bets people!" Solomon shouted.

Evan then noticed Emma and the other chaperones standing to the sidelines. "Aren't you going to stop this?" Evan asked.

"Eventually," Emma grinned as she watched her adopted daughters switch partners and beat the stuffing out of their tormentors. "Once the girls get all the rage out of their systems. Then I can get all the rage out of mine!"

"Tarot and Monet are going to get serious punishment aren't they?" Beef chuckled.

"Definitely…" Emma told him as she watched Tarot try to get to her cards but Catseye wouldn't let her.

"And I thought the X-Men's dances were disasters," Evan sighed.


	71. A Night on the Town

**A Night On The Town**

Two nights later…

"Well other than Jubilee's little shoot 'em up adventure we haven't seen any mutants here," Tabitha groaned. The girls were on a night out again. This time Jubilee was driving.

"Come on guys," Paige said. "It's not like this trip was a total loss. We got to hang out at the beach and see the sights."

"Speaking of sights," Rina noticed something. "Is that who I think it is?"

"Shane? So it is," Jubilee pulled the car over. Shane was dressed up in a more snazzy blue shirt and gold chains. "Hey."

"Right on time I see," Shane grinned.

"What is **he** doing here?" Kitty asked.

"I kind of invited him," Jubilee admitted. "He called me the other night. Wanted to make it up to me so…"

"How did he get your number?" Tabitha asked.

"There's this amazing invention," Shane looked at her. "It's called a phone book."

"Come on guys give him a chance," Jubilee said. "I mean we all put up with Lance."

"She's got a point," Danielle admitted.

"I know a place where we can have some fun," Shane told them. "Come on, you girls wanna dance?"

"Now you are speaking my language," Tabitha grinned. "Lead the way."

Soon Shane and the girls were standing on the streets waiting to get into an under 21 nightclub. "Evo-Motion?" Amara asked. "Is this a mutant hangout?"

"Believe it or not there are some streets in LA that are mutant friendly," Shane told them. "You just gotta know the territory."

"I gotta admit, you came through for us Shane," Kitty blinked as she noticed one of the bouncers had horns and a tail.

"Yeah well there are a lot of norms that like to play dress up too," Shane coughed. "So don't go recruiting for every mutant you see."

"Right now my mind is on dancing, not work," Tabitha admitted.

"Your mind is **never **on work," Rahne told her.

"True but what kind of mutant would want to work on a night like this?" Tabitha grinned.

Meanwhile on that very street…

"I swear my sisters are the most irresponsible…" Althea cursed under her breath. The Misfits were on foot looking for the Runaways. The younger girls were left behind at the Pit. "Working our butts off walking all over town…"

"Don't be too mad at 'em Al," Lance said. "To be honest I probably would have done the same thing."

"Yeah it does kind of bite that we've been sent to do to them what the adults have been trying to do," Pietro agreed. "Think about it."

"I have," Althea said. "I'm not crazy about it either, but that's our mission. We don't have a choice. Besides those kids are rank amateurs. You saw what happened the other night. What if we weren't there?"

"The street wouldn't have blown up?" Fred asked.

"Besides that Fred," Althea sighed. "I just have this bad feeling these kids are headed for something they can't handle."

"I know but…" Lance sighed. "I also know exactly what they're going through. I didn't want anybody to split the Brotherhood up or send us back into the foster care system."

"Maybe we can work something out?" Angelica asked. "Persuade them to join the Misfits?"

"Yeah, no offense guys but we could use a few more humans on the team," Arcade said.

"None taken," Xi nodded. "We are supposed to represent humans **and** mutants working together."

"At least that's one thing we've got up on the X-Men," Lance agreed. "I may not trust all humans but at least I'm willing to work with 'em. Well now anyway."

"Speaking of which…" Pietro noticed something. "You guys are not going to believe this. Look over there."

"Hey guys!" Angelica called out to the X-Girls. "Over here!"

"Is that who I think it is?" Amara looked at the approaching mutants.

"It figures," Jubilee sighed.

"Is there ever a place we can go where they won't follow?" Rina asked.

"Not a chance," Tabitha rolled her eyes.

"Who?" Shane turned around. "Oh no…"

"Hey! Kitty!" Lance bounded over. "Funny meeting…YOU!"

"Well look who we've found with the X-Girls," Pietro snickered.

"You **know** these **maniacs?"** Shane asked Jubilee.

"Unfortunately," Jubilee folded her arms. "What are you guys doing here this time? What there weren't enough people at the Institute for you to annoy?"

"Weren't there anyone else besides wanted felons for you to hook up with?" Pietro scoffed.

"What?" Kitty glared at Shane.

"It's hit the fan now…" Shane groaned. "Uh…I just remembered I gotta…"

"What did he do?" Kitty asked.

"He and his gang got caught in the crossfire between us and the Runaways when tried to steal from some warehouse!" Lance told her.

"Warehouse?" Jubilee glared at Shane. "Is that why those guys were trying to kill you the other night?"

"They were members from a rival crew," Shane admitted. "Just a little turf war that's all."

"The cops got a file on you a mile long," Pietro told him.

"Sounds like it almost rivals **your** police record," Kitty said.

"You're friends with **Army mutants?"** Shane was shocked.

"Depends on your definition of friends," Jubilee sighed.

"What's wrong with Army mutants?" Althea asked.

"Besides the fact that you're all led around by a leash?" Shane snarled. "You're like some kind of pets."

"Keep talking and you'll see how **domesticated **I really am," Althea got in his face.

"Would you guys just **chill out?"** Jubilee got between them.

"She's right," Angelica said. "Why don't we just take a break?"

"Why not?" Althea sighed. "This night is a bust anyway."

"You mean we are not taking him into custody?" Xi pointed at Shane.

"Let's just say he's lucky the adults aren't here," Althea shrugged. "Besides we're supposed to be hunting the Runaways. Not petty thugs."

"Seeing is how you're not arresting me or anything I'll let that slide," Shane grumbled. "Besides I hope you do get those nutcases. Half the crimes in town have been ruined because of them. And because of that little fracas the other night, half my gang is either in jail or on some kind of religious conversion trip."

"Oh then we're **definitely **taking our time to find them," Pietro grinned. "Come on, let's go inside!"

Soon the gang was inside. Although the situation was tense between the groups, it was quickly forgotten as several of the mutants decided to dance instead of fight. Althea and Todd were dancing up a storm.

Shane was dancing with Jubilee when Kitty grabbed her and took off to the bathroom. Lance walked up to him. "They're going to be gossiping about us for hours you know?""

"Yeah I figured that," Shane looked. "You're Lance right?"

"Yup," Lance nodded. "Why what have you heard?"

"A lot," Shane snickered.

"Great," Lance rolled his eyes.

"Well at least you're not half as uptight as your leader here," Shane pointed.

"I wouldn't knock the Army around Althea if I were you," Lance folded his arms. "She was raised on an army base. The Joes are like family to her and she's proud of what she is."

"In other words she doesn't know of any other type of life huh?" Shane cocked his head. "What about the rest of you?"

"Simple, the Joes took us in when the rest of the world shut us out," Lance explained.

"So you owe 'em huh? Guess I can understand that," Shane shrugged. "Still wouldn't wanna be one of you."

"So you wanna be an X-Man and join up with the Institute?" Lance raised an eyebrow.

"What gave you **that **idea?"

"The way you're looking at Jubilee," Lance pointed out. "You've got it bad."

"Man you don't know what you're talking about," Shane grunted and turned away.

"Oh yes I do," Lance laughed. "Believe me, I am an expert on this subject. I once joined the X-Men in order to get closer to Kitty. Man was **that **a mistake!"

"What too hard for you?"

"Actually there were a lot of trust issues," Lance admitted. "Not to mention a little incident with the Air Force and the X-Jet."

"What?"

"Don't ask, it's a long story," Lance groaned.

"So how come you ended up in the army?"

"Another long story," Lance waved. "In my case I was whacked out on drugs Magneto pumped me up with."

"I know that guy," Shane frowned. "Tried to get me to sign up. Told him no thanks. I don't take orders. I give 'em."

"Smart move," Lance growled. "So he was trying to recruit you and just let you go? Doesn't sound like him."

"Well I had a few friends with me at the time who wanted to go with him," Shane sighed. "Magneto must have figured three outta four wasn't bad. I guess I can't blame 'em for joining up. They had it really hard being mutants."

"Yeah things ain't exactly a bed of roses right now," Lance sighed.

"You know the saying," Pietro skidded up to them. "When life gives you lemons, smash them in your rivals' face. Which is what Misfits do best."

"Got tired of all the girls shooting you down," Lance folded his arms.

"Speaking of shooting," Pietro looked at Shane. "What was all that about the other night?"

"Subtle ain't he?" Shane looked at Lance.

"He's also Magneto's son," Lance told him. "Which pretty much explains everything."

"Look I was trying to take down this other gang leader who was working for this Chinese dude who's trying to take over for the Pryde," Shane told them.

"Him and every other guy in LA," Pietro snorted.

"Exactly," Shane nodded. "We were just gonna steal a few things. You know make a dent in his operation."

"Speaking of dents…" Someone growled. Shane turned around and saw several large thugs behind him. "Been looking for you Shooter."

"Well now you found him," Pietro mocked. "Maybe you can find Waldo now?"

"You think you're so special creep?" One snarled.

"Mommy always said I was special," Pietro used his super speed to give one of the gang members a wedgie. "Ha ha! HEY!"

Suddenly Pietro was lifted up into the air. "So did mine," Another gang member with glowing eyes telekinetically lifted him into the air.

"Oh crap…" Pietro gulped.

"Put him down!" Lance growled.

"Or what?" Another gang member sneered.

"Or I rock your world," Lance grinned an evil grin.

Meanwhile on the other side of the club the other Misfits were oblivious to Pietro's plight. "I tell you how long does it take a guy to go to the bathroom?" Althea grunted.

"Well look who else has showed up!" Wanda pointed. Two of the Runaways, Gert and Chase were in a corner. "Guess tonight wasn't such a bust after all!"

"Looks like they're on a date," Althea said. "Which means it's a perfect time to talk to them. Let's go."

Before they could get any closer someone flew right past them. That someone was Pietro. "Yikes!"

"Ow…" He shook his head as he sat up.

"Pietro what did you…?" Wanda looked around and felt a tremor. She saw several thugs waving guns and being toppled by a tremor. "Oh boy…"

Ten seconds later the club was pure pandemonium. Gunfire was everywhere and soon a round of energy bullets streaked over the heads of people. Then more tremors. "THIS IS CRAZY!" Jubilee shouted. She and Kitty made it out of the bathroom and were now on the floor.

"Sorry Jubes I gotta get outta here before the cops come," Shane ran by. "Or worse I get killed!"

"SHANE YOU JERK!" Jubilee snapped.

"Would you prefer he stay and make you a target?" Angelica fired off a blast in self-defense. It hit a rafter and caught on fire. "Oops…"

"Okay time to go!" Fred gulped as the fire began. "EVERYBODY OUT!" No one argued with him.

"Avalanche! Make an extra door!" Althea ordered.

"Got it!" Lance did so creating a tremor big enough to open a hole. Everyone managed to run out of it.

Meanwhile Chase and Gert were racing for their lives. "The one time we were able to get away for a date!" Chase groaned.

Soon everyone had gotten out of the club. They saw the Leapfrog take off into the sky. "There they go again," Althea sighed. "We'll never catch them at this rate."

"This is like what? The second or third shoot out we've been in since we got here," Todd groaned. "LA is a rough town, man."

"Yeah and Jubilee was in another one," Tabitha remarked. "And **all **of them involved Shooter!"

"Where is the rat anyway?" Amara asked.

"Who cares?" Pietro asked "Let's go before the cops get us!" The Misfits ran off and teleported away.

The X-Girls ran off as well, not wanting to get caught. "Oh we're seeing the sights all right," Rina grumbled at Paige. "And if we get captured we'll be seeing the inside of a jail cell!"

Unknown to them some of the gang members were lurking outside. "Great. Shooter got away."

"Forget Shooter," One gang member noticed the group. "I think I just spotted a bigger prize. Take a look at the Chinese chick in the yellow jacket. Look familiar?"

"Isn't that…?" Another was shocked. "Mantis' **niece?"**

"Yup," The first one grinned. "Follow 'em and call the boss. Tell him we've finally tracked his renegade assassin down."


	72. You Know What Hits The Fan

**You Know What Hits the Fan**

"I can't believe you people!" Fury stormed into the briefing room at SHEILD headquarters. "I send you on a simple assignment to find four kids and what do I get? Two major explosions that wreck two streets, reports of you in shoot outs with the locals…Just basically the same chaos and insanity which has become your trademark!"

The Misfits were taking this all in stride. Cover Girl had gone with the kids this time. "Don't forget wecaptured and tookover a dozen gang members off the streets," She pointed out.

"Yeah and into the hospital!" Fury snapped.

"You said so yourself half of them had outstanding arrest warrants for other crimes," Angelica pointed out.

"So you got lucky! Big deal! You still wrecked a good chunk of LA!" Fury snapped.

"And you're shocked at this?" Logan asked as he walked into the room.

"What are you doing here, Logan?" Cover Girl asked.

"Fury said he had some leads for me about Omega Red," Logan told him. "I came to check it out. Besides I had to get out of the mansion. The kids were driving me crazy!"

"I know the feeling," Cover Girl nodded.

"For crying out loud **what **are **you **doing?" Fury screamed at Xi. He was happily cutting out pictures and putting them in colorful photograph books on one of the tables.

"It's part of Xi's therapy," Todd was helping him. "Psyche-Out's orders."

"I like scrapbooking," Xi grinned. "I find it calming."

"Wonderful…" Fury rolled his good eye. Then he noticed something. "Xi did you take this picture?" He picked it up.

"Yes," Xi nodded. "I am a good photographer."

"When did you take this?" Fury asked.

"About two days ago at the place where the X-Girls are staying," Pietro told him.

"Look we're making progress on the Runaways…" Althea began. "Despite a few setbacks…"

"Forget the Runaways!" Fury snapped. "You can track them down later. They're not important! Not anymore!"

"What do you mean?" Lance asked.

"Do you know **who** this woman is?" Fury pointed at Hope's picture.

"Jubilee's Aunt Hope," Fred answered. "So?"

"This woman is known as the Black Mantis," Fury explained. "One of China's deadliest assassins before she went rogue. Ten years ago she rebelled against her government to work for the people she was sent to destroy. I guess she found the pay better."

"I **knew** there was something about her that smelled funny!" Logan growled.

"She's been on Interpol's most wanted list for years!" Fury said. "In addition to killing off several government officials and being tied to one of the most powerful crime syndicates in Asia, she's stolen more money than the Thieves' Guild and Hydra combined!"

"I thought you guys did a background check on her?" Cover Girl asked Logan.

"We did!" Logan snapped.

"Did I forget to mention she's also a computer expert?" Fury sighed. "Probably made up a whole bunch of phony credentials."

"Oh no…" Logan groaned. "The kids!"

"This is gonna kill Jubilee when she finds out," Wanda told him.

"I know! I know!" Logan told her.

"Didn't she give you guys some big check?" Fred asked. "You know as a way of thanking you for taking care of Jubilee?"

"WHAT?" Fury was shocked. "YOU ACCEPTED MONEY FROM AN ASSASSIN?"

"That's not good is it?" Fred asked.

"No it is not, Blob," Cover Girl sighed.

"Oh freaking hell…"Logan winced. He took out his cell phone and punched in the numbers. "Ororo? It's Logan. Where's Charles? I'm afraid a lot of things are wrong. Put together the X-Men and send 'em out to California! You'd better believe there's trouble! You didn't cash that check the Jubilee's Aunt Hope gave us did you? Oh great! Well better un-cash it. I don't know **how** you do it. Just try okay?"

"Kids you know what to do," Cover Girl told the Misfits. "I'll call Roadblock and tell him you'll be late for dinner."

Logan saw the Misfits heading out. "You wait for me!" He shouted. Then started talking back into the phone. "No not you. Just get the team out here ASAP! I don't have time to explain now. Fury'll tell you! Bye!"

"Wait a minute…" Fury protested as Logan shoved the phone in his hands. "Logan I…" Too late, Logan ran out the door. "Great! Storm? Yeah well you'd better sit down first. And you might want to get a hold of your lawyers…"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Meanwhile Jubilee was getting another surprise of her own. "Oh so you're back?" She asked the figure at the front door.

"Look I came to apologize," Shane said. "For getting you involved in the shootout."

"Which one?"

"Okay I gotta apologize for **two **things," Shane winced.

"Hey Jubilee what's with the…" Kitty walked in and saw the scene. "And what are **you **doing here?"

"I came to talk to Jubilee if you don't mind," Shane folded his arms.

"Actually we do mind," Kitty told him.

"Kitty…" Jubilee warned. "I can handle this."

"Aren't you the one who was dating two guys at the same time?" Shane looked at Kitty. "'Cause you're making an awful lot of judgements…"

"What's going on?" Rina walked in with Tabitha. "YOU!"

"Come to cause even more trouble?" Tabitha asked. The other X-Girls walked in.

"Oh like **you **never did," Shane glared at her. "Jubilee told me all about you girls the other day."

"Wait when was this?" Kitty asked.

"On the phone before last night," Jubilee sighed.

"Not that its any of your business what we talk about," Shane told them.

"It's **my **business what you talk about, Bub."

Shane turned around and saw a very annoyed Logan glaring at him. "Uh…" He gulped when he saw the claws casually stick out from his hand.

"Who the hell are **you?"** Logan growled.

"Uh…" Shane suddenly felt very nervous. "Nobody."

"Hey guys!" Todd bounded up with the rest of the Misfits. "It's Jubilee's mutant gangster boyfriend!"

"TOAD!" Jubilee shouted.

"Busted…" Kitty whistled. Logan gave Shane a death glare. Shane, who had been exposed to knife fights, guns and other horrors of the streets since he was six years old, was suddenly very, very afraid.

"He's not…" Jubilee was frustrated. "We're not…What are **you **doing here?"

"Jubilee I don't know how to tell you this," Lance looked nervous. "Uh, is your aunt around?"

"No, she went out with Brad to a business meeting, why?" She answered.

"Business meeting," Pietro snorted. "Yeah right!"

"Just what do you mean by **that?"** Jubilee glared at him.

"Hold on. First who is **this **guy?" Logan pointed at Shane with his claws. "And why is he hanging around here?"

"Could you point those things away from me please?" Shane gulped.

"He's apologizing for getting her involved in a couple of shoot outs," Rina told him.

"WHAT?" Logan roared and glared at Shane.

"Thanks a lot Rina!" Jubilee put her hand to her head.

"I think I'm going to go home now…" Shane decided to back up and get out while he still had a pair of legs intact.

Just then Brad stumbled into the house, twacking Shane right in the face with the door. Shane fell back and Brad fell forward. "Brad!" Jubilee was shocked at his black outfit, guns and he was bleeding from a shoulder wound.

"Who's **this** guy?" Shane groaned as he rubbed his head.

"The butler," Logan readied his claws.

"This guy? Don't look like no butler to me," Shane moaned.

"That's because he ain't," Todd told him.

"Toad for once keep your flamin' mouth shut!" Logan roared.

"I'm fine by the way…" Shane grumbled as he got up. "No worries, I'm good."

"He's shot nimrod!" Lina snapped as she grabbed some bandages out of her medic kit and tended to the wound. "That kind of comes first!"

"Well I didn't see with all the door in my face!" Shane snapped. "Sue me!"

"Brad, what's with the outfit?" Kitty asked. "You're hurt!"

"Just a scratch," Brad got up and grunted. "Looks worse than it really is."

"Your 'business meeting' get a little rough?" Logan growled.

"What?" Jubilee asked. "Brad what's he talking about? What's going on?"

Brad sighed. "Jubilee…I'm sorry. Hope's gonna kill me for telling you this but…She's not who you think she is. She wasn't sick the other day, she got shot."

"Shot? Why?" Jubilee asked.

"Your aunt is an assassin," Brad sighed. "Or at least she's trying to stop being one."

"WHAT?" Jubilee yelled.

"Fury just told us," Pietro added. "She's been on the World's Most Wanted list for years!"

"She's called the Black Mantis," Todd added.

"Toad shut up!" Logan roared.

"I don't believe this…" Jubilee was in shock.

"Damn…" Shane shook his head. "This is some messed up…"

"You don't know the **half **of it," Pietro told him.

"She wanted out of this life and settle down," Brad looked out the window. "You know the story, she was promised one last job by her boss and that would be it. Only it wasn't."

"He double crossed her didn't he?" Lance asked.

"Got it in one," Brad shook his head. "Hope really has a thing about getting shot. So she decided to get in a little payback but this time they were ready for us. We got outnumbered, split up and ran. I don't know where she is."

"And what are **you **in all this?" Logan growled. "You're not just a butler are you?"

"I've been her apprentice for seven years," Brad admitted. "And…her secret fiancée for the past seven months."

**"WHAT?"** Jubilee screamed even louder.

"Oh my god…" Rahne's jaw dropped.

"Welcome to the club," Kitty groaned.

"I don't believe this…" Shane was shocked. "A week ago my life was fine. Now I'm in some messed up mutant soap opera!"

"It does seem like that doesn't it?" Fred asked Todd who nodded in agreement.

"R. Kelly has nothing on this," Tabitha agreed.

"I gotta get outta here…" Shane headed for the door only to be grabbed by the back of the shirt by Logan. "Hey!"

"You ain't going anywhere," Logan told him.

"Uh, look you are all obviously going through a lot of heavy personal things and I don't wanna…" Shane gulped.

"No, you're not going because we got company," Logan shouted. "GET DOWN!"

Everyone barely had time to react before the bullets started flying. "I guess I didn't lose them," Brad grumbled as he pulled his weapon.

"Okay," Logan shot out his claws. "X! Firestar! Magma! Avalanche! And the Butler here are the first wave! The rest of you be ready to clean up our spillover!"

"I'm trying to install fear into them!" Danielle shouted. "But they're blocking me somehow!"

"Mental blocks most likely," Logan grunted. "Blob I need your invulnerable hide to cover for those who have weaker attacks! Husk you change into something less vulnerable and help him."

"You got it," Fred nodded as over a dozen invaders in black broke down the door and spilled in.

"Ditto," Paige shed her skin and most of her clothes to reveal a hard, silver like form. "Ready for action!"

"Weak huh?" Shane snorted. He shot out several energy bullets. "How's **this** for weak?"

It became a violent free for all. The invaders were well armed but the mutants were also very experienced fighters. They were able to defend their position despite the massive army attacking them. It was hard not to kill them but they managed tp either knock out or incapacitate them in one way or another.

"We're holding 'em back but I don't know for how long," Lance shouted as he used his powers to send out a massive wave of earth at the invaders.

"Man it's like they sent an army here!" Pietro barely dodged some gunfire. He used his super speed to knock out several invaders.

BAM!

BOOM!

"Geeze where are the cops when you need 'em?" Wanda shouted as she hexed several guns.

Suddenly Aunt Hope crashed through the window on a jet pack. "HOPE!" Brad shouted.

"Don't be too happy," She shed the jet pack and started firing. "I brought more friends with me!"

"With friends like this who needs health insurance?" Pietro quipped.

"Bad gangster! Bad!" Danielle hit one of the attackers with a large piece of wood. Rahne turned into a wolf and bit one on the behind. Lina used her spit spray to wrap another up like a mummy. Still they kept coming.

"This is just perfect!The secondshoot out in as many nights!" Tabitha blew some energy bombs at the attackers.

"Third for me," Jubilee glared at Shane.

"Ditto," Althea remarked as she dodged several bullets.

"Well you can't blame me for **this** one!" Shane shouted at her.

"Jubilee I'm sorry," Hope said as she fired off another round. "I never wanted you to find out…"

"Save it," Jubilee shouted. "Brad told me everything!"

"Just now!" Brad added. "When they started firing the guns at us!"

"We'll talk later," Hope told her.

"That's pretty optimistic!" Pietro quipped as he dodged more bullets. "Geeze even Cobra doesn't have this many armed guys!"

"Cobra doesn't have as much firepower as these guys," Hope explained. "Or at least they're not willing to use this much on anyone! But my old boss really has it in for me!"

"You sure know how to make friends," Logan grunted as he sliced several weapons to shreds.

"Jubilee your parents disowned me years ago," Hope explained as she defended her home. "That's why you never knew about me before."

"Well I'm learning a lot now!" Jubilee flashed her fireworks on an invader, blinding him.

"Stick close!" Shane backed into her. "I got your back!" He shot an invader advancing on them.

"Thanks Shane!" Jubilee told him firing on another invader.

"I guess this is my way of making up for you getting involved in my shoot-outs?" Shane shouted as he fired his energy bullets.

"SHOOT OUTS?" Aunt Hope shouted. "AS IN PLURAL?"

"WHAT SHOOT OUTS?" Logan roared.

"Aunt Hope! Logan! Not **now!"** Jubilee shouted. "Bad guy at two o' clock!" Logan took care of him.

"You a mutant too?" Hope asked Shane.

"You bet!" Shane shot at more men.

"Right on baby!" Hope whooped as she did a flip and knocked down two more men from behind.

"Okay does she sound like Austin Powers or is it just me?" Fred asked.

"Just shut up and fight!" Logan roared.

"You don't have to be so touchy!" Fred snapped as he knocked back several thugs.

"UGGHH!" Brad was hit in the shoulder and the leg. He fell to the ground.

"Brad! He's hit!" Kitty shouted.

"I'm amazed no one else has been hit yet!" Althea shouted as she ducked some bullets.

"I am definitely not getting a deposit back on this house," Aunt Hope grumbled as she saw her home get blown to pieces around her.

"Hang on Brad!" Jubilee covered him. "We'll get you help as soon as we can!"

"I'm not…going anywhere…" Brad muttered before he passed out.

"BRAD!" Hope shouted. "EAT LEAD BASTARDS!" She fired off several more rounds.

"Geeze who else is in your family? Rambo?" Shane asked Jubilee.

Suddenly the guns stopped firing. A tall thin Chinese man with long gray hair held his pistol in the air. _"Cease fire! Now!" _He ordered in Chinese.

"They stopped," Pietro said.

"For now," Rina growled.

_"What do you want Ang?" _Hope snapped.

"Anybody know what they're saying?" Lance asked.

"I know Japanese, not Chinese," Althea admitted.

"I never learned the language," Jubilee said.

"I did," Logan said. "Quiet!"

_"We can go on like this all night," _Ang spoke in Chinese. _"But that's so counter productive. I have invested a lot of time and money in you Ms. Lee. Surely it doesn't have to end this way? I gave you everything!"_

_"Everything but my freedom," _Hope told him.

_"I am willing to make you an offer. If you lay down your weapons and come back to me, you will not be punished. All will be forgiven. You are far too valuable and deadly an assassin to destroy wantonly. If not…Well I think you can see where I'm going with this." _

"What are they saying?" Shane asked Logan.

"Either she goes back to the dirtbag or he blows us away," Logan told him.

"That's what I thought he said," Shane groaned.

Suddenly Fred snapped. _"We aren't going to give into the likes of you! So scram!" _

Everyone stared at Fred. "What?" He asked. "I made friends with a few Chinese Acrobats when I worked at the Circus as a kid."

"You never told us you could speak Chinese!" Pietro was stunned.

"Just a little. And you never asked!" Fred explained.

"No wonder he always knew what to order every time we went to get takeout," Todd thought.

_"You want me? Fine," _Hope snarled. _"But how do I know you won't blast my niece, my butler and their friends the second my guard is lowered? If you really just want me you'd let them go. They have nothing to do with this. I won't agree to anything until they're safe." _

_"Very well," _Ang nodded. _"I have no taste for killing children and I know of the reputation of the Wolverine. Besides, it's the least I can do. After all, I was able to find you by following them. They may leave if you remain behind. My men will not fire on them." _

"All right, all of you," Hope told them. "Take Brad and leave! Now!"

"But Aunt Hope!" Jubilee plead.

"Do as she says kid!" Logan saw the look in Hope's eyes. "Trust me on this one kiddo!"

"But we can take them!" Pietro whined.

"Maybe we can but he won't last much longer without a doctor," Hope touched Brad's cheek. "And I won't endanger you or your friends any more."

"Okay," Jubilee took a longing look at Hope before she helped Brad outside. Soon everyone else was far away.

_"Now that there are no distractions we can talk," _Ang swaggered in with his henchmen.

"_I was hoping you'd do that," _Hope threw down her guns. She then backed up to the wall and put her hands on the security system. _"Let me just turn off the alarm shall I?" _

_"Yes…Wait! No!" _Too late Ang realized what she was about to do.

_"Gotcha suckers…" _Hope grinned as she flipped the switch.

BOOOM!

**"AUNT HOPE!" **Jubilee screamed as the entire building went up in flames.

**Next: What happens to everyone? Is this really the end of Aunt Hope? And what about Shane Shooter? Find out next chapter! **


	73. Here We Go Again

**Here We Go Again**

Several hours later in a hospital…

"We searched the surrounding area," Fury told Jubilee. She and Logan were in Brad's hospital room. "It's highly unlikely she could have gotten out of the house before…" He stopped not wanting to finish the sentence. "Well at least she took out some major scumbags with her."

"That doesn't exactly comfort me right now," Brad's voice was hoarse.

"I can't believe it," Jubilee sat down on the chair. "This is all so surreal…"

"I'm sorry, kiddo," Logan put his hand on her shoulder. "Boy we X-Men really know how to pick 'em don't we?"

"For what it's worth, Hope was really proud of you, Jubilee," Brad told her.

"Brad I'm sorry," Jubilee got up and hugged him. "I'm so, so sorry."

"Logan," Fury made a noise with his throat. "It's time."

"Come on kid," Logan put his hand on his shoulder and guided her out of the room.

They left the hospital room in silence and met up with the rest of the X-Men in the lobby. They were all watching television waiting for news. The rest of the X-Men had arrived just moments after the explosion, too little too late. "Jubilee I'm sorry," Jean gave her a hug. "How are you holding up?"

"Not really well, but I'll live. So what's going to happen to Brad?" Jubilee asked.

"SHEILD will take him into custody, probably indefinitely," Logan saw no need to spare her the details. "Try to get as much information as they can from him."

"How long do you think he'll be in jail?" Rogue asked.

"He won't go a regular prison," Logan told her. "SHEILD will hang onto him. He won't even get a trial. In cases like this SHIELD is judge, jury and executioner."

"Executioner?" Jubilee gasped. "You mean they…?"

"They won't kill him," Logan sighed. "He's way too valuable."

"He'll just be locked up for the rest of his life won't he?" Jubilee was very sad.

"Unless he's able to make a deal," Logan sighed as he hugged her. "I'm really sorry kid."

"It's not fair," Jubilee sobbed. "It's just not fair."

"Tell me about it," Kitty sighed as she watched TV absently. "Just when I think we've finally met someone **normal **in our lives…Oh no!"

"What?" Logan asked. "What is it now?"

"Oh goody," Rogue said sarcastically. "We're on the Six O'clock News again!"

"An explosion rocked the upscale suburbs of LA today," The announcer spoke. "Reportedly one of China's most dangerous assassins Hope Lee, AKA The Black Mantis was apparently killed in a violent shoot out with a rival gang. Also at this shoot out were the Misfits who were trying to apprehend the Black Mantis and the X-Men. The X-Men's role in this conflict is unclear but it has now been confirmed that one of them, a Jubilation 'Jubilee' Lee is the niece of the Black Mantis. We now go live to Trish Tilby in New York for more details.

"We are so cursed…" Kitty rolled her eyes.

"How did they find out about this so fast?" Jean asked.

"According to sources from the Bayville First Bank…" Trish spoke. "The Xavier Institute deposited a very large donation from Hope Lee several months ago."

"Hank…" Jean glared at him. "Did you ever say anything about this to Trish?"

"Well I did mention that Jubilee was going to see her Aunt Hope," Hank gulped. "And I might have dropped a hint about her giving us a check…"

"I knew it," Rogue groaned. "Thanks a lot Beast!"

"Yeah this is going to help my case with the shareholders," Warren sighed. "'Okay so the Institute recently accepted money from a known **assassin**. That's still no reason not to make me head of the company'. I can hear my father screaming for the lawyers as we speak."

"**Your** case?" Jean looked at him. "Think about what I'm going to hear the next time I go to class at NYU!"

"Will you guys stop thinking of **yourselves **for **one minute?"** Tabitha snapped. "In case you haven't noticed, Firecracker's got her flame put out big time!"

"And it's not just Aunt Hope is it?" Kitty realized.

"You really liked Shane didn't you?" Amara asked.

"Yeah," Jubilee sighed. "Yeah I did. That's another person who's let me down."

"To be fair he was on the run from the cops at the time," Kitty said. "Not to mention the last I saw of him the Misfits were chasing him down."

"Wait, the cops?" Jean blinked. "Who exactly is this Shane?"

"Somebody I probably will never see again," Jubilee sighed. "If he's smart."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"I knew I should have put more oil in that trap door…"

Hope crawled out of the sewer hole that she had remained hidden in. "I hate sewers…" She hissed. "And I really hate getting blow up!"

She looked down at herself. Her clothes were torn and her right leg was missing from the knee down. Of course since it was a cybernetic leg wires dangled from it, sparking. The other cybernetic leg was equally damaged but somehow intact.

"Great…" Hope looked at her mangled body. "And I just got those things tuned up. I guess its back to the shop…"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Back at Misfit Manor…

"I really feel bad for Jubilee," Wanda told them as the Misfits watched the television footage in the war room. "I mean losing her aunt like that."

"Hey, at least we got credit for tracking down her aunt and all those bad guys," Pietro was nursing a sprained shoulder with some ice. "Now Fury ain't mad at us for losing the Runaways."

"To be honest I don't really care about that right now," Angelica glared at him.

"Neither do I," Althea said.

"Well at least one good thing came out of this," Todd told them. "At least we got a new recruit."

They looked over at Shane Shooter sitting on a bench with Roadblock standing next to him. "You never would have caught me if I hadn't tripped over that damn dog," Shane grunted. "Stupid reject from Taco Bell."

"You're just lucky we were able to make a deal with the authorities," Roadblock reminded him. "Or else they would have handed you to the GRSO and threw away the keys."

"Don't remind me," Shane grunted. "I know the score for mutants. I either pay my debt by fighting for my country or I end up in a lab somewhere. Some choice."

"Better than **no** choice," Xi reminded him. "Trust me on this." He took a picture of Shane. "Smile!"

Shane rolled his eyes. "Why do I have the feeling I would have been better off in **jail?"**

**Next: As the newest Misfit adjusts to his new life, more events unfold including one that will force two X-Men to face their past nightmares! What happens? Wait and see! **


	74. And Yet The Plots Keep Going On and On

**And Yet The Plots Keep Going On and On**

"You wanted to see me Mindbender?" Magneto asked. He loathed meeting with any of the Cobra humans and his irritation clearly showed in his tone.

"Yes, I was wondering if you had a chance to look over my proposal," Mindbender coughed. "I know Cobra promised you help in developing clone mutant armies but, well I admit progress is going slowly."

"Glaciers move slowly Mindbender," Magneto glared at him. "Your work has been virtually at a standstill. Not that I expected much help from you in the first place…"

"Well you know how difficult it is to successfully work and develop life forms with mutant DNA," Mindbender told him. "It took nearly twenty years for Cobra to create our last batch of assassins…"

"And it took twenty minutes for them to revolt and screw up your plans," Magneto folded his arms.

"Yes well that's what makes this proposal so much more interesting…" Mindbender told him. "You see…"

"I know what you proposed, Mindbender. I've read the file!" Magneto glared. "Evolving animals? I ask for new breakthroughs in mutant genetics and the best you can give me is evolving animals?"

"But the technology to do so is already in Cobra's possession," Mindbender told him. "Years ago we combined human subjects with animal DNA. Why not simply reverse the process and have a trained army of animal soldiers within a year?"

"Because it is a mockery of everything I stand for!" Magneto snarled. "A mutant is the highest life form on Earth. To give such gifts to lower creatures is…"

"Technically humans are animals," Mindbender interrupted him. "Would you hesitate to give such a gift to a human if you could?"

"Depends on which human you are talking about."

"Exactly," Mindbender said. "But if you give limited intelligence and power to animal subjects…Well they would not only be grateful, but easier to manage. If you get my drift. And if this war that you're planning for is truly coming, is it wise for you to be so **picky** where your foot soldiers come from?"

"In other words instead of merely doubling my mutant army within two years I could quadruple it one with this process," Magneto thought. "I must admit your idea has merit."

"There is one little…hiccup, Mindbender coughed. "Uh, it seems that the process is a tad unstable. The Joes have found a way to cure most of the subjects in the past and well…You've read the Project Venom file. It simply wouldn't do to have our armies suddenly turn back into creatures that prefer to eat a banana or something than fight. Years ago there were some scientists that claimed they were able to do this but they disappeared and, well we haven't had that much luck finding any trace of them."

"Actually …I know how to fix this process," Magneto told him. "I've worked with someone who has perfected it. He even grew these creatures in his own lab and they were totally devoted to him."

"Really?" Mindbender was intrigued. "Who is he?"

"Someone I really do not wish to cross paths with again," Magneto sighed. "He prefers his solitude. But in our time together I learned enough so that we can do the job quite accurately."

"Then we can start the process right away?" Mindbender grinned. "Excellent."

"How ironic," Magneto sighed to himself. "Using the High Evolutionary's own work of giving intelligence to dumb animals to further human evolution. But this is war and in war, there must be sacrifices…As well as cannon fodder."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"I'm going to die…" Shane Shooter stumbled into the living room after his first day of training with the Misfits. "That's it. I'm gonna die…You hear me Momma? This is the big one!"

"Come on," Althea walked in with most of the Misfits. (Trinity and Spyder were off somewhere.) "I didn't beat you up **that** much."

"Yeah you hardly have any marks on you," Pietro remarked.

"If that was the part of the initiation where you establish your cred and authority over me…" Shane grumbled before he crashed onto the couch. "Guess what? It worked."

"Well I have to admit you weren't that bad yourself," Althea casually brushed off her sleeves. "For a rank amateur."

"She considers anyone who hasn't fought ninjas before rank amateurs," Pietro explained. "But I gotta admit I was impressed enough that you were up before reveille."

"You don't make money by lying in bed until noon," Shane told him. "Well unless you're a hooker but even then…"

"Oh I guess there's a lot of call for drug dealing and…" Pietro began before Shane shot him a very hard look.

"Look," Shane's face grew hard. "I may have stolen and shot people, but I was **never** no drug dealer."

"Oh **there's** a difference," Pietro mocked.

"Ignore him," Wanda said. "We all do."

"So…" Shane looked at the watches as he sat up. "What's up with the watches you wear?"

"They're teleportation watches that are linked to something called the Mass Device," Lance sat down next to him.

"You mean you can go anywhere with them?" Shane's eyes raised. "When do I get one?"

"Not just yet," Althea said. "You still need breaking in."

"Emphasis on the breaking," Shane grumbled.

"And we need to make a watch that doesn't well, have any hiccups," Angelica added.

"Hiccups?" Shane asked. "What kind of hiccups are we talking about here?"

"Well it's very rare but every now and then when we teleport we don't exactly end up where we're supposed to be," Althea explained. "Like the time Lance here ended up in Antarctica."

"How could I forget that?" Lance groaned as he rolled his eyes. "That and the stupid volcano ruined my date with Kitty!"

"Volcano?" Shane blinked. "You teleported into a **volcano?"**

"Once! I had trouble with the dials!" Lance snapped.

"That's The Trouble With Teleportation," Fred nodded.

"And we need to make sure that the watch has you reassembled correctly," Althea added.

"Yeah you know," Todd said. "You see you set turned into a bazillion itty bitty particles of atoms and stuff and are whisked through the air to where you're supposed to be and then you get put back together again. But don't worry it usually works."

"Usually?" Shane asked.

"Once or twice when we try and transport inanimate objects, they kind of end up…Unassembled," Angelica coughed. "But it hasn't happened with people yet."

"Although knowing us we're probably overdue," Lance said.

"It helps not to think about it," Fred told him.

"Some people are more able to do that than others," Pietro snickered.

"Well we all can't keep our minds totally blank for hours like you can Pietro," Arcade said.

"That's right," Pietro grinned. Then he realized that was a shot. "HEY!"

"Good one!" Fred snickered giving Arcade a high five. Unfortunately it was a little too hard and Arcade crashed into a wall. "Sorry man!"

"I'm okay…" Arcade shook his head. "I'm getting used to it."

"Uh, on second thought I'm not in a rush to have one of those," Shane gulped.

"Yeah well…" Lance began then had a strange look in his eye. "I told you I am not talking to you!"

"What did you say to me?" Shane was startled.

"I don't think he's talking to you Shane," Lina said.

"Your little friend is back isn't he?" Wanda smirked.

"He is not my…" Lance began and whirled on an empty space on the couch. "I told you to shut up! We are not friends! We will never be friends you fleabag!"

"**Who** are you talking to?" Shane asked.

"I'm talking to the coyote…" Lance admitted.

"Coyote?" Shane looked at him.

"The Coyote that lives in my head," Lance snapped. "That loves to annoy me and…And…Great! I hope you're happy!" He whirled on the empty space. "He's thinks I'm crazy now! Are you happy?"

Shane looked at the others. "Is he for real?"

"Yeah that's another thing you ought to know about," Todd remarked. "It's a side effect of an experiment Magneto did to him. Don't worry, the coyote only bothers Lance and he only shows up once a week. Well sometimes twice a week. No more than four times a week. Usually. Five times is the most you'll hear about it."

"LALALALAALA!" Lance held his hands over his ears. "I'm not listening!"

"That dude is crazy," Shane got up from the couch and moved to an empty seat.

"Yeah like he's the only one certifiable around here," Pietro scoffed.

"You'd better not be referring to me, brother dearest…" Wanda hissed.

"Come on Wanda," Todd said. "It ain't his fault that your old man locked you up in a nut…I mean a mental health facility for years."

"What really gets me is that while I was locked up you idiots roamed free!" Wanda groaned.

"It does seem unfair doesn't it?" Althea remarked.

"NOT LISTENING!" Lance shouted. "AND THAT'S FINAL!"

"Are there any other little things I should know about around here?" Shane asked in an annoyed voice. "You know so I don't accidentally die or anything?"

"Well…" Todd began. "Don't give Xi too many cookies unless you want him to hug you all day. And technically Xi isn't a him or a her."

"I was created without gender by Cobra," Xi said. "I am a trained assassin but sometimes I like to hug people instead of eviscerating them. It doesn't make that much of a mess."

"Sometimes Lance tends to sleepwalk," Fred added. "Or sleep terraforms."

"It means he makes holes and mountains and stuff," Todd explained.

"Never go into my sisters' bedroom alone," Althea warned him. An explosion could be heard upstairs. "Trust me on this."

"And watch your back in the shower!" Todd said. "Some of the girls here like to peek!"

"Or my sisters might attack you and just strip the boxers right off you," Althea said.

"Never drink any alcohol in the house," Wanda told him. "The adults get annoyed when they can't get drunk."

"COWABUNGA!" Shipwreck zoomed by the open door blindfolded riding a shopping cart.

"YOU HAVEN'T WON YET!" The Blind Master zoomed by a second after him. "THAT VODKA IS AS GOOD AS MINE!"

"Just don't drink period," Wanda said.

"Not gonna be a problem," Shane blinked. "Anything else?"

"Oh lots of things," Fred said cheerfully. "You're probably not allowed to pilot the spaceship yet or drive the tanks."

"Yeah I figured…" Shane did a double take. _"Spaceship?" _

"To get you up to speed aliens are real as well as demons and ancient gods," Angelica told him. "Just thought I'd give you a heads up about that."

"Magic too," Wanda said. "I was trained by a real witch and we know quite a few sorcerers."

"There's this dude Nightcrawler," Todd told him. "Looks like a demon. He's Pietro and Wanda's half sister's brother. His girlfriend is a sorceress in training."

"Considering the witch his mom is…" Wanda grumbled. "Kurt and Rogue's mother is Mystique, a wanted terrorist we used to work for. We don't really like her that much."

"And twice a week we all get to go to therapy together!" Fred said cheerfully. "Sometimes Psyche-Out lets me run the sessions!"

"That **one** time," Pietro said. "When he was in the hospital after the accident!"

"What accident?" Shane asked.

"The one he had on the golf course mine field in back of the house," Pietro said matter of factly.

"Mine field?" Shane's jaw dropped. "Please tell me you are joking!"

"FORE!" Bazooka shouted in the distance.

BOOM!

"I'm okay…" Bazooka shouted in a funny voice. "Let's make that a par three…"

"I'm living in a nuthouse…" Shane realized.

"Welcome to my world," Lance told him. Then he looked at the empty space on the couch. "No, I don't think he's interested in cutting a rap album with you! **You** shut up!"

"Freaking nuthouse…" Shane was shocked. "I would have been safer in jail!"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Oh no…" Secret Agent Matt Burke groaned as he turned over in his bed. "What the hell do **you** want?"

"What any woman wants who enters your bed," Selene was lying on top of his sheets. "Your credit card numbers."

"Well **this **is a sight I'd rather not see first thing in the morning," Burke grumbled as he sat up.

"There was a time when you quite enjoyed my company," Selene purred.

"There was a time I enjoyed chocolate covered eclairs filled with buttery cream," Burke remarked. "It was sweet and fun but very bad for my health!" He got up and yanked on the sheets. This effectively sent her flying off the bed landing right onto her bottom.

"That's not **all** that's bad for your health," Selene growled as she stood up. Then she sweetened her tone. "But then again you were always one of my favorite paramours so I can forgive your little outbursts."

"Forget it Selene," Burke told her. "I've learned my lesson long ago to never go along with one of your insane schemes again! Whatever it is, I'm **not** doing it!"

"I'll give you money," Selene said.

"Don't need it," Burke went into the bathroom.

Selene followed him and opened the door. Fortunately Burke was merely washing his face. "I'll give you some more formula to keep you young."

"I think I'm aging rather gracefully, thank you very much."

"Fine…I know a way to turn you back into Azazel."

Burke looked at her. "You're lying. You said it was impossible."

"It was impossible **then**," Selene told him. "But a lot of time has passed and…Remember when Benny Barumpbump hit you with that spell that changed you back?"

"Yes, but it doesn't work in this dimension," Burke told you.

"But it would work in your _**old** _dimension," Selene said. "You know where you and your oh so charming relatives were banished to a millennia ago?"

"Yes?"

"All you have to do is return there for one minute and your powers would return…Permanently," Selene grinned. "You know your magic is strongest in that dimension. All you have to do is…"

"Say the right incantation," Burke folded his arms. "And I suppose you know it?"

"You already do," Selene said. "Remember Dresden in 1562?"

"Yes of course," Burke thought. "How could I forget it? That spell would work perfectly! But there is still the problem of me getting to that dimension in the first place!"

"You're forgetting something, or should I say some **one,"** Selene grinned. "I've been doing a few background checks. It seems young Nightcrawler passes through another dimension when he teleports. Three guesses **which** dimension it is?"

"Really? But he only stays there a nanosecond," Burke reminded her.

"True but what if I told you there was a way for him to stay **longer** in there?" Selene grinned. "And it was right within the walls of the Xavier Mansion?"

"I'm listening," Burke looked at her.

"They have an inventor named Forge who makes many interesting inventions…" Selene said.

"Yes and they all backfire like the one…" Burke stopped. "Like the Middleverse machine…And the time of the Sadie Hawkins Dance…OF COURSE!"

"Now you're getting it?" Selene grinned.

"I knew there was a reason I listened to those ridiculous stories of the Misfits!" Burke slammed his hand into his open palm. "Why didn't I think of it before?"

"Because you've been too busy playing secret agent and getting laid," Selene said. "Speaking of which does Kurt know about his other two siblings you fathered in this dimension?"

"Okay I know you know about Kiwi Blackbut what do you mean…?" Burke began. Selene handed him another piece of paper. "Oh…"

"Yeah oh," Selene was enjoying herself. "You really didn't think no one would find out about this? Especially…Well look at him! Why are **two **of your sons blue? I mean Magneto explains Kurt but this one…"

"Oh well, I guess his genes must have activated naturally," Burke shrugged. "I mean all my brothers were blue. I was just the only one who was red…and survived."

"That's because you killed them darling," Selene reminded him.

"Well it wasn't like they weren't trying to kill me first," Burke snapped. "I'm not going to ask how you found out about this."

"Good because I wasn't going to tell you. So when did you find out about this one?" Selene asked.

"Well shortly after I found out about Kurt I thought of doing some checking up on all my old girlfriends," Burke explained.

"Must have taken you months," Selene snorted.

"Two months actually," Burke sighed. "I haven't met him yet. His mother was always a strange one. She used to work for this multibillionaire tycoon who wanted to flood the world by melting the polar ice caps…Or was it freeze the world? Anyway you know the story, Secret Agent seduces henchgirl, henchgirl falls in love, Secret Agent and henchgirl work together to topple her evil boss…yada, yada, yada…"

"And by that I take it you mean you dumped her the minute the mission was over?"

"I'm not that heartless," Burke said. "Two weekends after that mission was over."

"As fascinating as this has been I'll get to the point," Selene told him. "We both want to save the Earth…in our own way. Why not work together?"

"I am getting rather tired of this human form…" Burke admitted. "But what exactly do you want in return?"

"Remember the M'kran Crystal?"

"How could I forget that debacle?"

"The Hellfire Club has it."

"You're joking?"

"Worse they want to use it."

"I see," Burke thought. "So in return for helping me regain my rightful form…"

"I want you as an ally to steal the crystal or if worse comes to worse…" Selene sighed.

"Allow you refuge into my dimension," Burke folded his arms.

"Well yes…" Selene admitted. "Or help me fight the Phoenix. Hopefully it won't come to that. But you can see why I need your help. And with the device from the X-Men you and your clan will be able to come and go from your dimension with ease."

"You **won't** harm my son."

"Not a single blue hair on his body will be so much as bent, I promise," Selene told him.

"All right," Burke got a glint in his eye. "You've got a deal."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"I'm ready," Astrid Bloom sat down at the table. "Let's begin."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Mastermind asked the others. "This is a force just as great as Apocalypse. Perhaps even more dangerous."

"Don't be such a worry wart Mastermind," Lucas snorted. "We can handle this."

"This from a man who can barely handle his **own** separate personalities?" Mastermind glared at him.

"We don't have to handle it, just release it," Mesmero told him. "If we focus all our telepathic energies it should be enough to make a large enough tear in the psychic plane."

"I'm not so sure," Mastermind still had doubts. "My telepathy and Mesmero's are not as strong in a far range capacity. And Miss Bloom…"

"Will do just fine," Astrid told him. "I've been practicing ever since I woke up from my seven year nap."

"Besides I have this to boost my power as well," Lucas took out a small Cerebro like helmet. "It's a copy of the prototype of Cerebro Magneto has in his vault. Dear Lorna was so helpful getting it for me without her father knowing."

"How did you do that?" Mastermind was astonished. "On second thought don't tell me. I don't want to know."

"It's strong enough to do the job," Lucas put it on. "Now let's do this."

"All right," Mastermind resigned to his fate. "Let us begin."

"Just concentrate…" Lucas told them as the psychics focused their mental powers. "Focus…reach your minds into the Astral Plane…"

They used their powers to search what they were looking for. Soon they found it and used every bit of their strength to tear open a small fabric of space and time.

The backlash of psychic energy was strong enough to knock them out of their seats. "No!" Lucas screamed as he threw of the sparkling helmet.

**_I am free…_**

"I knew it!" Mastermind screamed in agony. "He's too powerful!"

**_I am power…_**

The psychic waves of savagery could be felt across the planet.

Xavier shouted in pain. "NO!"

**_And I am coming for you…_**

Ororo sat up and screamed. Lightning flashed across the sky.

Far off in another town her sister Vi screamed as well. "Honey what's wrong?" Carl sat up in bed and turned on the lights.

**_You will be mine again…_**

"He's back…" Vi shook in terror. "Lord help us all, he's back…"

**Next: The X-Men are forced to fight a terror from the past. A power so strong Xavier is forced to turn to their enemies for help, and I don't mean the Misfits! Find out what will happen next chapter! **


	75. Revenge of the Shadow King

**Revenge of the Shadow King**

"It was awful," Jean shuddered as Scott handed her some cocoa. "I never felt anything like that."

"It was like some one scratched their nails on a very loud chalkboard," Betsy said. "And then hit you on the head with it."

"Boy you psychics are really on edge," Ray noticed. All the X-Men were up that morning. They were all reacting to the previous night's events. Every mutant with psychic ability was shaken.

"It's not just the psychics," Logan noticed. Ororo was pacing back and forth by the window. He walked over to her. "Whatever happened to the psychics happened to you too didn't it?"

"Is it that obvious?" Ororo sighed.

"I've only seen you this jumpy once before," Logan admitted. "And that was when that Hungan character was trying to take over your brain."

"It feels like that's what's going to happen again," Ororo admitted. "Only…It's a force much more powerful."

Xavier wheeled in with a grave look on his face. "You were right. He has returned."

"Goddess no…" Ororo went white. "Not the Shadow King!"

"I could feel his presence in this world like a hammer to the brain," Xavier's eyes narrowed. "We are all in very grave danger."

"Who's this Shadow King?" Scott asked. "And why has it got you and Storm all worked up?"

"It's a very long story…" Ororo sighed as she sat down. "Both Charles and I encountered him in our youth. When my sister and I lost our parents, we were both forced to survive by stealing on the streets of Cairo."

"You were homeless in a strange country?" Tabitha blinked. "I didn't know that."

"There is much you don't know about me," Ororo gave her a weak smile. "The man who ruled our lives, in fact the lives of nearly every citizen in Cairo was a man named Amahl Farouk who many believed was some sort of sorcerer. In reality he was a powerful mutant with extreme telepathic abilities. He was the crime lord of the city. He called himself the Shadow King and all the street children were forced to do his bidding. Many times we were forced to risk our lives to satisfy his greed. Many of my friends did not survive."

"So what happened?" Jean asked.

"I guess you could call it fate," Ororo made a slight grin at Xavier. "One day I picked the pocket of a young soldier who happened to have psychic abilities."

**"You?"** Scott was surprised as he looked at Xavier.

"Yes, although this was long before Ororo's mutant abilities had appeared," Xavier nodded. "Using my powers I managed to track Ororo to Farouk. Needless to say I was appalled at how he used his powers to control and manipulate people. When I refused to join his criminal empire, Farouk saw me as a threat. I will never forget that battle. It was a battle between two telepaths, something I had never encountered before. In the end I was forced to use a fatal psychic bolt against him."

"You killed him?" Jean's eyes widened.

"Only his body," Xavier explained. "His mental powers were so great his mind could exist outside of it. He attempted to take over my body but I was able to banish him to another plane of existence where he could do no harm, hopefully forever."

"Is that how you came to the Institute?" Kurt asked Ororo.

"No, shortly after Farouk's death my sister and I left Cairo and wandered Africa until we came to my mother's village," Ororo shook her head. "We did not meet again until years later. Needless to say we both thought our days of being controlled by the Shadow King were over. We believed he would be trapped in the Astral Plane forever."

"The what now?" Tim asked.

"The Astral Plane is like another dimension within a dimension," Xavier explained. "It is where all thoughts, memories, dreams and fantasies are thought to exist. Nearly all telepaths are able to access it. But few can truly experience it."

"And now this guy broke out somehow and he wants revenge?" Logan asked.

"Precisely," Xavier folded his fingers. "It will not be long before he attacks us. I suspect he is planning something."

The doorbell rang. "That's my sister," Ororo sighed as she went to answer the door. "I told her to come here."

What she wasn't prepared for was who she brought with her. "Hello Auntie O," Evan said as he walked in without his spikes, wearing the Massachusetts Academy uniform.

"Evan?" Ororo's eyes widened. "You're…"

"Another perk of being at the Massachusetts Academy," Evan told her. "They give me a serum to help me control my powers."

"Ororo," Vi sighed and gave her sister a hug. Ororo weakly hugged back. "Carl's at work. I told him not to come. I had to bring Evan with me. He said…"

"Don't worry Mom," Evan put a hand on her shoulder. "I'll explain to them."

"Why don't you take Mrs. Daniels to the kitchen?" Ororo asked Jamie. "Evan and I need to…Talk."

They waited until Mrs. Daniels was gone before anyone else spoke. "My mom filled me in on the whole Shadow King story. I know I'm not exactly welcome here," Evan said with an edge to his voice. "But considering the circumstances I thought it would be best if I came."

"So she doesn't know anything about the Hellions or your little 'field trips'?" Rogue asked bitterly.

"No, and I'd appreciate it if you kept that information quiet," Evan glared at her.

"You're just lucky I care enough about your mother **not** to tell her about all the things you've done!" Ororo glared at him.

"Not that she would believe you anyway," Evan told her. "Besides you people aren't exactly all that innocent either. You should take some **sage** advice and not stir things up."

Ororo tensed. Xavier's eyes widened. Logan frowned. Only Jean and Betsy seemed to notice something had transpired but most of the other X-Men were too angry with Evan to see it.

"Oh no," Tabitha folded her arms. "Just cause you nearly killed me that's no reason we can't all be **friends!"**

"To be fair I was trying to skewer Cyclops here," Evan growled and pointed at Scott. "And only because Empath gave me a push."

"Did he give you a push when you offed Spears?" Rogue asked.

"You people are **never** going to let go of that are you?" Evan snapped.

"Well betrayal does tend to stick in your craw," Rogue told him.

"Oh look who's talking…" Evan threw up his hands.

"That's enough," Xavier interrupted. "Right now we have bigger problems."

"I know. That's why I've also brought some help," Evan sighed.

"What kind of help?" Logan raised an eyebrow and sniffed. "Oh no…"

"Well it looks like I've returned to this lunatic asylum sooner than I anticipated," Emma Frost gracefully strode in.

"YOU!" Ororo growled. "What is **she **doing here?"

"I've started to sell Avon door to door," Emma said sarcastically. "I have some lovely foundation that would hide that shade of green on your face, Storm."

"You have no **right** being in this house," Ororo's eyes flashed.

"Yeah especially after that stunt you pulled the last time we crossed paths!" Kitty spoke up.

"And the time before that," Tabitha added. "And the time before **that…"**

"Ms. Frost is the best telepath the Massachusetts Academy has," Evan stood up for her.

"You can't possibly expect us to work with her!" Scott snapped.

"Oh like the X-Men has never worked with their enemies **before?"** Evan asked sarcastically. He indicated Peter and Remy.

"Listen X-Men," Emma growled. "I'm not exactly thrilled about this either. But even I can't ignore the threat of the Shadow King. The Hellfire Club had dealings with him a long time ago and barely survived. My mission is to help you put him back into that psychic prison once and for all. So let's try not to kill each other shall we?"

"She's right," Xavier admitted. "It's going to take every bit of psychic power we have to defeat him. All this time in the Astral Plane has made him stronger. We have no choice but to work together."

"Fine but I'm watching you," Logan growled at Emma.

"Oh dear me," Emma drawled. "There goes any chance of me stealing your secrets. Oh wait, you don't **have** any. They've all been **broadcast **on the **six o'clock** **news!"**

"Listen you two bit…" Logan flashed his claws at her.

"Yes, please **do** threaten me," Emma reverted to her diamond form. "Typical X-Men mentality. Your first response to any situation you are uncomfortable with is violence."

"Don't start anything Frost…" Ororo growled.

"Especially without your little pep squad to watch your back," Logan added.

"I don't need to **start** anything," Emma growled back. "But believe me I will **finish it!** I don't need my students to…"

"I said **that's enough!"** Xavier shouted. "Like it our not we have to work together. It's the only way any of us will survive."

**_"None of you will survive…" _**

They turned towards the sound. Vi was standing there, her eyes glowing a deep purple. She held and unconscious Jamie in her hand. **_"Hello Xavier, long time no see…" _**

"The Shadow King…" Xavier realized too late what had happened.

"VI!" Ororo shouted. "NO! But how…?"

**_"I managed to find her as soon as I escaped the Astral Plane,"_** The Shadow King spoke. **_"I knew if I possessed her body it would allow me easy access to all my enemies. Surprised? I may have been locked away on the Astral Plane but that didn't stop me from being able to monitor current events." _**

"MOM!" Evan shouted.

"He's possessed her," Emma frowned.

**_"That's right my dear Emma," _**The Shadow King gave a deep hoarse laugh. **_"Ah a representative of the Hellfire Club, my former apprentices and the man who condemned me to the Astral Plane all in the same place." _**

"Don't forget us!" Scott moved a hand to his visor.

"Are you crazy?" Evan blocked his way. "You'll hit my mom!"

**_"Indeed…" _**The Shadow King laughed. **_"I suppose I should thank you Charles. In a strange way, you made me even more powerful than I could have ever dreamed! Let me show you…" _**

Suddenly everything around them went black. The room seemed to spin around and around faster and faster until it stopped suddenly. When it did they found themselves in a strange dark world with pale purple white walls that were transparent and endless rooms and corridors. "Where the hell are we?" Tim looked around.

"Are we where I think we are?" Jean was shocked.

"Yes…" Emma told her. "Somehow our physical beings have been transported to the Astral Plane."

"Not just us," Kurt noted. "Some of this furniture looks familiar."

"Incredible…" Hank looked around. "It seems that the Shadow King is able to manipulate the Astral Plane itself."

"Meaning…?" Bobby asked.

"Somehow he has managed to yank a part of the Astral Plane through the created tear and engulf is in it," Hank told him.

"So the entire mansion is like stuck in another dimension?" Kitty's jaw dropped.

"A rather simplistic explanation but yes, I fear that is the case," Hank nodded.

**_"I am going to enjoy every minute of this!" _**The Shadow King laughed as Vi's body flew into the air holding Jamie. **_"But before I destroy you completely let's have a little game of hide and go seek! With this young one as the prize!" _**

"NO!" Xavier shouted as they disappeared.

**Coming up next: The X-Men, trapped in the Astral Plane are forced to fight the Shadow King! What will happen next? Tune in to find out! **


	76. Psychic Showdown Part I

**Psychic Showdown Part I**

"Okay, okay let me see if I get this straight…" Doug was starting to panic. "We're trapped in another dimension at the mercy of this all powerful evil dead guy who wants revenge on the Professor, Storm and everyone else just for the heck of it?"

"That pretty much sums it up, yeah," Logan nodded.

"We're gonna die aren't we?" Doug moaned.

"Well I'm already dead so…" Dead Girl shrugged.

"Yeah well I'm **not!** And I'd like to stay that way for at least sixty or so years thank you very much!" Doug snapped.

"Calm down Doug it's going to be okay," Scott told him.

"Yeah this kind of thing happens to us all the time," Kitty shrugged.

"Well not to **me** it doesn't!" Doug yelled. "In case you haven't noticed, some of us don't have the ability to shoot energy blasts or are able to walk through walls so they don't get killed!"

"Doug chill," Evan said. "I've never seen you freak out like this before."

"That's because I've never been stuck in another dimension before!" Doug told him. "People shooting at me, yeah I got it. Crazy mutants fighting all around me, duck and cover! But this! This is not what I signed up for!"

"Douglas control yourself," Emma snapped. "None of us are exactly thrilled about this situation but we cannot afford to panic. It's just what the Shadow King wants."

"She's right," Ororo said. "We have to rescue my sister and Jamie."

"One question: who's gonna rescue **us?"** Doug moaned.

"Things are not as hopeless as they seem," Xavier concentrated. His wheelchair vanished and to everyone's amazement he stood there among them. "There, that's much better."

"How the…?" Bobby's jaw dropped.

"Form and thought are one here," Xavier smirked. "The mind is the most powerful weapon."

"In other words in the Astral Plane, Xavier is unfettered by a wheelchair and can walk," Emma told them.

"Okay now things are getting really weird," Kitty gulped.

"**Now **things are getting really weird?" Doug screamed. "We're all gonna die aren't we?"

"Actually our chances of survival are not as slim as they appear," Betsy said. "With four telepaths we have a good chance of taking down the Shadow King."

"**Five** telepaths," Everett reminded them. "Thanks to my powers."

"We need to stay together and keep focused," Xavier concentrated. "The Shadow King isn't even bothering to hide his psychic signature. He wants us to find him."

"Which means he has a few lovely traps set for us," Emma nodded. "Be prepared for anything. Spyke…"

"Gotcha…" Evan took of his shirt and jacket and transformed into his armored form. He pulled out a spike and readied it like a weapon. He pulled out another one and gave it to Doug. "Here. You can use this."

"Great, a spear," Doug sighed. "**That'll **really work against the Shadow King."

"Will you stop whining and let's get on with it," Betsy told him.

"This way," Xavier motioned. Soon the mutants were travelling down a long ghostly set of stairs.

"And I thought Apocalypse's temple was creepy," Kitty shuddered.

"Look at all these weird vases," Bobby shattered one. "And look what happens when I break 'em." He picked up some odd shaped colorful disks with an X on them. "I wonder what these are for?"

"Souvenirs?" Remy shrugged. "Maybe they worth something?"

"You **would** think about something like that at a time like this," Rogue rolled her eyes.

"Maybe we'll get lucky and if we break more of them we'll find some armor or something?" Doug asked.

A loud inhuman scream was heard. "What was that?" Kurt asked.

"My guess here is those big ugly things up there," Betsy pointed to the sky. Huge black winged creatures with large talons and glowing eyes were flying towards them.

"They are called Astral Shades," Xavier explained. "Creatures born of nightmares, fear and hate."

"They remind me of my last date I had back in New York," Tim fired up his powers. His skull shone through his pale face. "Bring it on!"

The mutants fought against the monsters in a wild battle. "It's not hard knocking one down," Scott shouted as his eye beams disintegrated one monster. With a shriek it reformed into two more monsters. "It's the fact that after that one two or three more take it's place that might be a problem!"

Penny was tearing into the monsters with savage glee. "Doesn't seem to bother the Penster!" Tabitha shouted.

"Physical attacks do nothing," Emma made a psychic blast that destroyed two monsters. "You need a psychic attack to truly damage them."

"Is that all?" Betsy tore her psychic knife into one of them. "Not a problem!"

"Easy for you to say!" Doug shouted. "Ow! Those claws are sharp!"

Xavier dispelled a large amount of them with a psychic blast. "We need to keep moving!" He told them as more Astral Shades approached.

"We need to split up," Emma said.

"No, we have to stay together!" Scott told her as he blasted more Astral Shades.

"That's just what the Shadow King is expecting," Emma told him. "He sent these things to slow us down. And face it, only us psychics can really hurt him. The rest of you would only get him annoyed and get yourselves hurt."

"She's right," Xavier blasted a few more away. "Psylocke! You and Synch remain behind and help the others. Emma, Jean and I will take on the Shadow King ourselves."

"I'm coming too," Ororo told them as she used her lighting on some Astral Shades. It seemed to hurt them. "I won't abandon my sister or Multiple!"

"The same here," Evan said.

"Fine! The two of you can come," Emma huffed. "Just don't get killed."

"Cyclops! Cut a path for us!" Xavier ordered. "Now!"

Scott did so and the five mutants escaped. "Don't worry about us!" Logan shouted as he sliced some more creatures. "We can handle these freaks ourselves!"

"Oh that's such a relief," Doug gulped as he tried to whack one Astral Shade away with a stick. "Bad Astral Shade! Bad! Bad!"

The five mutants raced down the corridors and the stairs, going even deeper into the Astral Plane. "How big is this place anyway?" Evan grumbled.

"As deep and as wide as human thought," Emma told him.

"Too bad it wasn't Shipwreck's thoughts," Ororo grumbled. "Then we'd have a lot less area to cover."

"Not a good time to be thinking about your boyfriend, my dear," Emma smirked. "Try to stay focused shall we?"

"Shipwreck is **not**…" Ororo hissed. "I **hate** that insane sailor!"

"Oh please," Emma waved. "You know denial isn't just a river in Egypt. Don't bother trying to cover up your feelings. I am a telepath, remember? Although I can't say I blame you. If I was attracted to that sailor I would seriously consider checking myself into the nearest loony bin."

"LISTEN YOU SLUT, I AM NOT…" Ororo's shouted as the sky crackled with lightning.

"Very subtle," Emma interrupted. "If the Shadow King didn't know we were coming before he certainly does now. All because you can't admit your true feelings for a certain sailor. It's amusing if you think about it."

"Ms. Frost, even **I **don't find that funny right now," Evan's tone indicated that he was very upset.

"Sorry Spyke. I suppose that was in bad taste," Emma sighed. She looked at Ororo. "Speaking of which…"

"You say **one** more word…" Ororo growled and made a fist. "Just one…"

"Storm! Stop it!" Jean put her hand on her shoulder. "Just ignore her. We have to think of your sister and Multiple." She glared at Emma. "You really have a sick sense of humor, you know that?"

"One tries to find what levity one can in this world," Emma told her as they came into a clearing. "Or in **any** world for that matter. Ah well, it seems the Shadow King isn't much for subtlety either."

Before them was a huge coliseum with giant statues. "I believe this is where the Shadow King is waiting for us," Xavier frowned.

"Really? You **think?"** Emma asked sarcastically. "Come on, let's get this show on the road."

They entered the coliseum and saw Vi slumped on a throne in the middle of the ring. "Mom!" Evan ran up to her.

"Spyke wait!" Xavier called after him. "The Shadow King…"

"Isn't inside her…" Emma frowned as she used her telepathy to scan Vi's mind.

"Is she going to be all right?" Ororo looked over her sister.

"She will be once we get her out of here," Xavier said.

"That's if we get out of here," Jean grumbled.

"Try to look on the positive side, Darling," Emma said. "Now where is that shadowy tub of lard?"

"And where's Jamie?" Jean looked around. "Oh no…"

**_"Oh yes. I thought I'd change into something more comfortable before our battle,"_** The Shadow King grinned inside Jamie's body. He concentrated and split himself into several more clones, surrounding them. **_"And so versatile too. Talk about multi tasking…I think I might just keep this one." _**

"This could be a problem," Emma made a fighting stance.

"Spyke, guard your mother," Ororo told him.

**_"But who will protect you my little Ororo?" _**The Shadow King laughed. **_"It's so good to see you again. You were my best pupil. The greatest thief in all of Cairo. I always thought you had potential…" _**

"I will **never** serve you again!" Ororo started to create hurricane like winds.

The Shadow King laughed. **_"What will you do my dear? Harm the child? If you can find the original that is…" _**

"She may have a problem with that, but **I **don't," Emma had used her powers to find the original Jamie and sent a powerful psy-bolt at the original.

**_"YEARRRRGGHHHHH!" _**The Shadow King screamed.

"NO!" Jean protested and was about to stop her.

"Jean wait!" Xavier grabbed her shoulder. "She's driving the Shadow King **out** of Multiple's body!"

"Trying to is the operative expression…" Emma gritted her teeth. "I could use some help here!"

"It's the only way to save him," Xavier told Jean. She nodded. The two of them assisted Emma with a psychic bolt.

The Shadow King emerged with a scream. Jamie slumped to the ground and his clones disappeared. **_"You haven't won yet Xavier!" _**He roared as he morphed into a huge gladiator figure complete with a trident and shield. He stood fifty feet above them.

"This is definitely not good…" Evan gulped.

"You want to fight me, Shadow King?" Xavier concentrated. He started to grow. He morphed into the same size as his opponent, complete with armor and a sword. "I defeated you once before and I shall again!"

"Now this is something you don't see every day," Emma remarked as the two engaged in combat. Then she noticed dozens of Astral Shades and strange shadow beasts headed towards them. "We've got company people!"

"Then let's welcome them shall we?" Ororo focused her powers creating lightning. She shot out as much as she could but the sheer numbers were threatening to overwhelm her. She tried to create a blizzard, but since the moisture in the atmosphere was barely non-existent she couldn't quite do it. One of the creatures knocked her down and managed to graze her shoulder.

"Storm!" Evan leapt to her defense and used his spikes to dispatch the creature. He helped her up. "You okay?"

"Yes…Evan…"Ororo hesitated for a moment.

"We may have our differences," Evan told her. "But you're still my aunt."

Before Ororo could respond another huge Astral Shade attacked. It was hit in the back by an optic blast. "Sorry we're late!" Scott called out as the other X-Men finally arrived. Many of them had torn clothes and looked worse for wear.

"I can barely get my frost up!" Bobby told them. "Not enough moisture for me to use!"

"Considering there's no real atmosphere in the Astral Plane that's not surprising," Emma told him.

"But if there's no atmosphere, how can we breathe and stuff?" Roberto shouted. He barely ducked an Astral Shade's talons. "Whoa!"

"Don't think about it too hard!" Evan told him. "Just fight!"

Above them the giant figures of Xavier and the Shadow King flew, bobbing and weaving as they fought fiercely. Xavier finally managed to knock the Shadow King down to the ground. But not before the Shadow King gave a hit of his own, knocking Xavier down and reducing him to normal size.

**_"Impressive Xavier," _**The Shadow King hissed. **_"Obviously your skills have been sharpened since we last battled. But mine have increased tenfold!" _**

With a shriek the Shadow King waved his arm and a huge hole opened wide behind Xavier. The whirling force of the hole dragged Xavier towards it.

"Professor!" Jean raced over to help him. She grabbed his arms and tried to drag him out of the hole. "Hang on!"

The Shadow King gave a chilling laugh as he sent out a strong wind like psychic blast directly at Jean and Xavier. "We gotta help them!" Scott tried to blast his way through the many enemies but more seemed to appear. They piled on the majority of the mutants like linebackers at a football game.

"We can't get them off us!" Amara screamed in pain.

"Hands off!" Betsy used her knife to cut through the creatures as much as possible. But even her and Everett's borrowed powers couldn't throw off all the monsters. Jean and the Professor were on their own and at the mercy of the Shadow King.

**_"Soon you will know the emptiness of the void!"_** The Shadow King roared.

"Oh **shut up!"** Emma snarled. "I've **had it** with your constant yammering!"

"So have I," Jean's eyes glowed and pushed her psychic powers to the limit as she sent a psy-bolt at the Shadow King. He roared in agony.

_Jean we must combine our powers…_Xavier told her. They merged psychically, forming into one glowing red and blue being. The being grew larger and larger, dwarfing the size of the hole.

**_"No…It's impossible! My power is supreme here!" _**The Shadow King roared as the combined psychics reached out and grabbed his shadowy body.

_**"NOT ANYMORE!"** _Xavier and Jean's voices chanted as they managed to shrink the Shadow King so he fit into the palm of their giant hand. With a mighty toss they threw the Shadow King into his own prison.

**"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" **The Shadow King screamed as he was swallowed up by the hole and disappeared inside it. It closed and with a violent bang the world around them was jostled. Everything spun with wild colors.

And just as suddenly as they had been drawn into the Astral Plane, the mutants once again found themselves in the Institute. Although they were battered and worn down, the room looked pristine, as if nothing had happened. "I don't believe it," Logan looked around. "For once we had a major brawl and the Institute didn't get wrecked. It's gotta be a record."

"Well," Rogue panted. "That's definitely something that you don't see every day."

"Lucky us," Betsy groaned. "What just happened here?"

"Jean and I were able to combine our psychic powers to trap the Shadow King in the dimensional prison he intended for us," Xavier explained. "It will be a long time before he will roam free in the Astral Plane again. Once he was trapped, the damage done between the barriers of the two dimensions was healed. There is balance again."

"Okay, just one question: Are we still alive?" Doug asked. His body was covered in scratches. "Goody…" He passed out on the floor.

Twenty minutes later Hank returned upstairs to the living room from the Infirmary. Logan, Scott, Jean, Betsy, Emma, Evan, Ray, Ororo and Xavier were in there awaiting the results. "So what's the news Beast?" Logan asked. 

"Both Vi and Jamie are unconscious but they'll be all right," Hank told them. He had a bandage on his arm. "A lot of our students are exhausted and have minor injuries. They should be up and about in a few days."

"Who's on the injured list?" Logan sighed as he sat down.

"Cypher, Bedlam, Nightcrawler, Jubilee, Sunspot, Synch, Cannonball, Iceman, Boom Boom and Magma," Hank told them. "Nothing major. Mostly scratches and sore muscles. But no Danger Room for them for the next few days."

"Put me on that list too. I'm so tired…" Betsy groaned. "That battle took nearly everything I had."

"Everyone that isn't injured is exhausted," Beast sighed as he sat down on a chair.

"Well psychic battles do tend to take a lot out of people," Emma told him. "If I were you Charles I'd start training them in how to handle psychic attacks. Why do you think Evan was able to stand against the Astral Shadows so well?"

"Trust me its no picnic but it helps," Evan groaned.

"Your X-Men did an admirable job but they still need to hone their skills," Emma gave a cool eye to Jean.

"Do you always have to act so damn superior to everyone?" Jean snapped.

"Only to those that I actually am superior too," Emma replied. "Admittedly it's a long list…"

"Let's get one thing straight," Jean glared at her. "I don't like you and what you represent. The way you use your powers goes against everything we've been taught here at the Institute."

"Oh, what a surprise," Evan rolled his eyes. "Miss Perfect has a problem with how we do things."

"If you mean using your powers to kill and murder innocent people…" Scott glared at him.

"Innocent? Don't make me laugh!" Evan shot up. "Since when did Spears and the FOH become innocent people? I never killed anyone who didn't deserve it."

"Maybe someone might think that way about you?" Scott snapped.

"Like you, Summers? If it's a fight you want…" Evan growled.

"Just go ahead…" Scott snapped putting his hand to his visor.

"Oh I will…" Evan armored up again.

"No you **won't!"** Ororo shouted.

"Yeah give it a rest you guys," Ray grumbled. "My muscles are still sore from the big battle we just finished about ten minutes ago!"

"Another fight would be pointless," Xavier admonished.

"Agreed. I don't care if you like me or not Jean," Emma gave her a look. "Just respect me. And my power. Unlike **you **I don't need everyone to love me in order to feel good about myself."

"And do you?" Jean looked at her.

"Very much so," Emma looked back.

"Well not for long…" Someone said.

"Who said...?" Emma began as she turned around.

BOOM!

Some kind of force burst through the room, flinging the mutants everywhere. "What the hell was that?" Ray groaned as he sat up. "And why does my brain hurt?"

"A psychic grenade…" Xavier groaned as he tried to sit up. He had been blown from his wheelchair. "A combination of psychic and telekinetic energy…"

"Oh you're still alive?" A voice floated into the room. "It seems the Shadow King didn't finish you off after all. What a shame."

"Now **what?"** Scott groaned.

"It's just as well…" Astrid Bloom strode into the room with a modified Cerebro like device on her head. "I get the pleasure of finishing you off myself. Like my little toy?" She pointed to her headgear. "The latest for psychic battles. It even makes psychic thought waves solid. And in any form I wish to take. Like this…"

From out of nowhere a blast of energy in the shape of a whip appeared and snapped at the mutants, forcing them to scatter for cover. "Such a fun little toy isn't it?" Astrid laughed as the whip disappeared.

"Astrid…" Emma's eyes narrowed. "You're awake."

"And ready to resume our battle, **Darling**…" Astrid hissed as she began her mental assault.

**Uh oh, Astrid's on the attack and half the X-Team is out of commission! What will happen next? Why's she so ticked off at Emma? Find out next chapter! **


	77. Psychic Showdown Part II

**Psychic Showdown Part II**

"Typical," Ray grumbled. "We finish one battle with one psychic nut job only to be attacked by another!" He shot out a blast of electricity. Astrid simply made a telekinetic shield and then psychically redirected the energy back at the mutants.

"Who the hell is this?" Logan yelled as he ducked for cover.

"Astrid Bloom, my old college roommate," Emma told him. "We had some issues in college."

"**Some** issues?" Scott dodged a blast of solid psychic energy. He tried to blast Astrid with an optic blast only to have it deflected.

"Pathetic," Astrid snorted as she used her enhanced powers to blast Scott and Ray to the wall.

"Forget them Astrid," Emma growled. "It's me you're after! Or are you afraid to take me on directly?"

"Please! I've been dreaming of this moment for the past seven years!" Astrid focused her attention on Emma. "And I'm not going to wait a **second **longer! Especially after what you did to me!"

"**You?"** Emma shouted. "What **I** did to **you?** I never would have done anything to you if you hadn't tried to ruin my life! Maybe I did go too far back then, but **you're** the one who struck the first blow! You were never exactly an innocent victim! I may have hurt you but you hurt me **first!"**

Emma sent out a stream of psychic energy but Astrid deflected it. "Is this still about Ian?" Astrid mocked as she sent another psychic attack at Emma. This time the psychic force turned into sharp knives that flew through the air.

"No, I got over him a **long** time ago," Emma dodged the knives. "By the way you were right about his initials."

"Well obviously!" Astrid hissed. "Ian Chester Kendall? I.C.K.? ICK? If that's not a warning sign I don't know what is!"

"That still didn't give you the right to do what you did!" Emma sent a psychic attack back.

"It **is** about Ian isn't it?" Astrid sent out more psychic knives.

"No," Emma created a psychic shield that blocked the psychic knives. "It's about Max, Christine **and** Ian! And all the times you used me!"

"Don't get all high and mighty with me!" Astrid shouted temporarily stopping her attack. "Like you never used your powers to get what you wanted?"

"Maybe, but I never used my powers on my five year old sister to force her to kill my parents," Emma told them. "Although I admit in hindsight that may not have been a bad idea."

"Celandine?" Xavier asked. Emma nodded. "My god…"

"You're going to pay for what you did to me!" Astrid hissed.

"You left me no choice!" Emma told her. "You were sick then and you're still sick now!"

"Sick? Sick? I you haven't **seen **sick yet!" Astrid laughed as she created long psychic chains, binding Emma and the other mutants. "Oh I can't wait to destroy your mind! No matter how long it takes!"

"Could somebody please explain what the hell this is all about?" Logan shouted.

"Short version: My dear old college room mate tried to manipulate me by manipulating my friends and boyfriend," Emma told him. "She wanted to keep me weak and dependent on her so she'd always have a friend. When I found out the truth, she tried to trap me in her mind. I turned the tables on her by trapping her in hers."

"Manipulation? I was trying to save you!" Astrid shrieked. "Notice how you conveniently forgot to mention that your so called boyfriend was also your professor and he was ten years older than you! And he was dating your first room mate too before I broke it up!"

"Yeah by forcing them to attack each other and driving Christine to the nuthouse!" Emma snapped. "Although admittedly the last part I kind of had to do myself. It's a long story."

"You used to date your teacher?" Scott looked at Emma. "Why does this make me very nervous?"

"It doesn't shock me," Jean snorted.

"Astrid! Stop this!" Xavier tried to use his psychic powers to stop her. "It doesn't have to end like this!"

"Fighting the Shadow King has tired you out, Gramps," Astrid deflected his attack with ease. "None of you are strong enough to break my psychic chains. They don't just hold you, they drain your psychic energy and use it against you. Besides, your human loving philosophy kind of conflicts with the folks I'm running with. And quite frankly, traitors like you deserve what they get."

"My sentiments exactly," Emma's eyes flashed. She transformed into her diamond form. "You're not the only one that's learned a few tricks." With a flourish she broke her psychic bonds.

"HOW?" Astrid hissed.

"Simple Darling," Emma told her. "My diamond form inhibits psychic powers. I simply cut off the chain's power supply. And now I am going to cut you!"

"Not if I cut you first!" Astrid created more psychic knives and threw them at her. They bounced off Emma's body but tore at her clothes.

"This outfit was specifically designed for me," Emma growled. "Now I am really **upset!"**

"Boo freaking hoo…" Astrid snarled. "Try wearing nothing but a hospital gown for seven years! I am going to…"

That's when something slammed into her back. "Uhhhh!" Astrid grunted as she fell to the floor.

"How the mighty have fallen," Emma wasted no time in removing Astrid's helmet. Immediately the psychic chains disappeared around the others. "Then again you were never really mighty in the first place. Just pathetic."

"Who…?" Astrid growled and saw who hit her. "Y-Yvonne? But how…?"

"My backup," Emma grinned. "I was planning on using her in case our battle with the Shadow King failed. Oh well, I guess she'll have to settle for you."

_"Hello Sister…" _Yvonne stood there using her powers on Astrid. _"You went into my mind once and destroyed me. Now it' s **my** turn to destroy **you!"** _

"You're a **mutant?"** Astrid gasped in pain. Blood started to come out through her nose. "No, please…Don't do this! Yvonne…We're sisters!"

"That didn't stop you from forcing me to kill our mother," Yvonne hissed. "You took everything from me, my parents, my mind, my **life!** All of it because you couldn't stand sharing mother with me! Well dear sister…I like to share…I'm sharing with you all the pain and torment I suffered all these years. All my memories…All my emotions…All my pain… are being transferred to **you!"**

"AAAAHHHHH!" Astrid screamed clutching her head. She shook violently before she collapsed to the floor in a heap.

"Goodbye Sister," Yvonne said simply. "Burn in hell."

"Well done darling," Emma said proudly.

"Is she…?" Jean gasped.

"What do **you **think?" Emma looked at Jean. She looked down at Astrid. "She was my friend once you know? Part of me almost feels sorry for her. **Almost…"**

"You didn't have to…" Jean began.

"Yes she **did,"** Evan glared at her and put his arm around Yvonne.

"Astrid was no more than a rabid dog that needed to be put to sleep," Emma agreed. "Using one's powers against humans when you have to is one thing, but she went beyond the pale."

"What's the thing she was wearing?" Ray asked as he took it from Emma. "It looks kind of like that portable Cerebro we have in the Blackbird."

"It's almost exactly like the portable Cerebro," Xavier had returned to his wheelchair and took it. "There are some modifications but the design is clearly the same."

"You mean somebody knows how to make a new and improved Cerebro?" Logan frowned. "I don't like this."

"Neither do I," Xavier admitted. "Although as far as I know only one other person has these exact specifications."

"Magneto?" Ororo asked. Xavier nodded. "But how did Astrid get them?"

"Are you okay?" Evan asked Yvonne.

"Better than I've been in a long time. I did get some information from her," Yvonne told Emma. "It seems the Hellfire Club has a spy or two in our midst. And your son Xavier is right in the middle of it."

"And Legion works with Magneto…" Scott put it together.

"Or pretends to work for him," Jean folded her arms. "I wouldn't put it past him to try and double cross him."

"Interesting," Emma raised an eyebrow. She had a quick telepathic exchange with Yvonne. "Come Hellions we have to go clean house."

"But what about…?" Ray pointed at Astrid. "You can't just leave her here! What are we supposed to do with a dead body?"

"As far as I'm concerned you can weigh it down with cement and throw it in the ocean," Emma scoffed. "Whatever you do I suggest you do it soon. It's going to be nearly ninety degrees tomorrow. It won't be pretty if you just leave her there."

"Look why don't we just use our influence to just have the coroner take it away?" Evan asked. "It's the least we can do."

"The very least," Scott grumbled.

"I think we've all had enough fighting for one day," Ororo said. She looked at Emma. "Don't you agree?"

"Yes," Emma nodded. "Evan get your mother. We're leaving. I think we've worn out our welcome here. But I might as well call the garbage men to pick up the trash. No one can say I am not a gracious guest. Besides, I have a feeling we're going to do a lot of cleaning today!"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Oh that was a brilliant plan Legion!" Mastermind snapped as he grabbed all the files he could from the filing cabinet. "Just **brilliant!"**

"Stop whining and keep grabbing the files," Lucas snarled as he downloaded evidence from the computer.

"Like that's going to do any good!" Mesmero snarled. "Luckily we sent Empath and Mystique on other errands before Frost and her brats got back."

"Not so lucky for us," Mastermind snapped. "I told Astrid not to attack them directly! But did she listen? Nooo! And I **know** that her little sister found out that she was in league with us and our plans to take over the Hellfire Club!"

"So?" Blackjack took over. "Astrid didn't see **me."**

"And I don't know what **you're** complaining about Mastermind!" Mesmero snapped. "At least you can go back to Magneto and simply tell him that your cover was blown! I'm out in the open with nowhere to go!"

"Yes you do," Blackjack sighed. "Go to Base Delta and await my instructions. I'm sure you can use your powers to escape easily. It's not like we didn't plan this escape out in advance. Remember the little drills Cyndi made you practice?"

"How could we ever forget?" Mastermind grumbled. "I've got all the paper evidence."

"And here is the hard drive," Blackjack handed it to him. "All right you know the drill. Go out the back tunnels and split up. Mastermind you rendezvous with Empath and go back to Magneto. Tell him our plans to infiltrate the Hellfire club have hit a slight snag but I am still undercover. You know the drill. Mesmero you lie low for a few weeks until I send for you. I'll stay behind, set fire to our little inner sanctuary here, cause a few little diversions, tell the Inner Circle that you were plotting and you got away…Blah, blah, blah…"

"You actually sound calm about all this!" Mastermind snapped.

"It helps to keep a cool head in these trying times," Blackjack said cynically. "Besides this works to our advantage."

"And how do you figure that?" Mastermind growled.

"Simple," Mesmero told him. "Now that they've uncovered one plot to overthrow them they won't be expecting another."

"Precisely," Blackjack nodded. He heard footsteps approaching. "You'd all better run now so I can start this fire."

"I am so tired of running for my life every other week," Mastermind grumbled as the two men pushed a hidden panel on the wall and escaped through a tunnel.

"Pity, I just redecorated," Blackjack conjured up one of his psyche's powers and started a fire. "Oh well…"

**Next: It's Prom time again for the Mutants! A night of romance, unexpected couples and one huge disaster that has everyone fighting for their lives against an evil that wants to take over the world! What more can you ask for? **


	78. The Second Annual Mutant Prom

**The Second Annual Mutant Prom**

A few weeks passed since the attack of the Shadow King. True to Emma's word, no mention of Astrid's death was in the papers and no questions were asked when the coroner came to take the body away. Life soon returned to relative normalcy and the students found themselves immersed in schoolwork, Danger Room activities and a brief moment of downtime. Not to mention the occasional moments of Misfit insanity.

It was then Xavier decided to reward his students for all their hard work and perseverance of what they had gone through in the year by allowing the students to hold a formal dance. Even the Misfits were invited and the students were all excited.

The X-Girls were getting their dresses fitted in one of the classrooms the day before the dance. "I can't believe Cover Girl was able to order these dresses for us!" Kitty squealed. "They are so cute!" She held hers up. It was a light pink with sequins.

"This is gonna a great prom!" Danielle agreed as she tried on her blue dress.

"I just hope it ends better than our **first** prom," Rogue moaned.

"Yeah with all those explosions back at the Pit," Tabitha said. She looked at Kitty. "And I don't just mean when the fake volcano blew up."

"Speaking of which, how is it going?" Jean asked. "I mean did you tell Lance you're having second thoughts?"

"Not exactly…" Kitty sighed.

"Oh boy…" Amara groaned. "Here we go again."

"I'm making the best of it with Lance," Kitty admitted. "You know he really is doing a lot better especially since they put him on the new medication."

"Medication?" Rogue asked.

"So he doesn't see the Coyote," Kitty explained. "Well not as often as he used to."

"So what you're telling us is that he's slightly less psychotic than normal? Some improvement!" Danielle groaned.

"Kitty…" Amara sighed.

"Look I'm with Lance, and all I can do is go with it and hope I'm not making a huge mistake," Kitty said. "I mean it's not like I don't care about him. Which I do. I mean Lance has a lot of good qualities."

"Name three," Rogue challenged.

"Oh this I gotta hear," Amara folded her arms.

"Well he's handsome and he loves me…" Kitty began.

"Notice the first thing she said was his looks," Rogue snorted.

"Just what is **that** supposed to mean?" Kitty glared at her. "What? You think I'm shallow or something?"

"You said it, not me," Rogue pointed out. She was finishing putting on a green dress.

"Come on Rogue," Kitty said. "Spill it."

"All right if you wanna know my opinion here it is," Rogue folded her arms. "I think you're in love with Colossus but are attracted to Avalanche."

"Isn't that the same thing?" Rina asked.

"Not exactly," Kitty told her. She looked at Rogue. "And who asked for your opinion anyway?"

"This is why I never want to write an advice column," Rogue rolled her eyes.

"Never mind her," Tabitha waved. "We all know what a lost cause she is. But whoo! Girl you look hot! Where did you get that dress?"

"Yeah and isn't it a little…" Amara gulped when she noticed the dress had no sleeves. "Revealing?"

"Oh…" Rogue blushed. "Uh you see you know that technology that can dampen my powers? Trinity put it in this thing. For the dance."

"So you can touch Remy?" Paige squealed. "That is so cool!"

"Okay maybe I'm still attracted to Peter," Kitty was in a daze. "Maybe I do love him. Or do I? Maybe if he hadn't given up I would have chosen him over Lance?"

"Well since he did that's kind of a moot point don't you think?" Rogue grumbled.

The girls were all so busy with their dresses that none of them noticed that Peter had stopped outside the hall and had heard every word they had spoken.

It was then Peter realized something. "I made a huge mistake…Giving Kitty up? What was I **thinking?"**

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"What were **you** thinking coming here?" Logan snapped.

"What? Can't a father come see his son and chaperone his dance?" Burke asked. He was in Xavier's study with Xavier, Kurt and Logan.

"You haven't shown up in ages," Logan snorted. "Why now?"

"It's not his fault," Kurt defended his father. "Matt's just been busy."

"Yeah I can guess exactly **what **he's been busy with," Logan snorted.

"He does keep in contact with me," Kurt told Logan. "He e-mails me all the time. I told him about the dance. He's a secret agent for crying out loud. He probably has to save the world every day or something."

"Well every **other** day, but you get the picture," Burke shrugged.

"He has a very important job he needs to do," Kurt said. "I understand why he hasn't been around."

"That's going to change between us, I promise," Burke told him putting his hand on his shoulder. "Kurt I know I haven't been much of a father to you…"

"You got that right," Logan folded his arms.

"But I want to spend more time with you," Burke continued. "Starting now. We really should get to know each other better. Now why don't you go get ready for that dance of yours? Maybe later we can catch up over a spot of lunch?"

"Okay, see you later," Kurt nodded and left the room.

"Burke I don't need my telepathic abilities to know that Kurt isn't the real reason you have decided to appear here," Xavier frowned. "What are you hiding?"

"I didn't want to say anything in front of the boy, but there's another reason why I'm here," Burke told them. "You remember Forge's Middleverse machine?"

"How could we ever forget that?" Logan groaned.

"I'm afraid to tell you that we've received word that some unscrupulous characters are after it," Burke said. "We think it might be the Hellfire Club but we're not sure. There are a number of suspects."

"How did you learn of it?" Xavier asked.

"There are files on the Xavier Institute and everything that goes on in it that take up entire rooms!" Burke looked at him. "How could we **not** know anything about it? Besides the Misfits blabbed about it last year."

"Figures," Logan grunted. "Why do they want it?"

"Who knows? Maybe to find another crystal like they did in Italy?" Burke shrugged. "The thing is I've been assigned to guard it. Specifically to make sure a certain Ex-Black Queen doesn't try to get her hands on it first."

"You saying Selene might try and break in here?" Xavier raised an eyebrow.

"It's likely," Burke said. "I've had dealings with her before. It's…Classified. Not a woman to take lightly."

"Indeed," Xavier nodded.

"She'll probably try to strike when the dance is in session," Burke said. "If I could find out about it, most likely she knows about it too."

"Should we cancel the dance?" Logan asked.

"The students have been under such pressure and have worked too hard for this night," Xavier sighed.

"I have a better idea," Burke said. "Continue with the dance but give the students the head's up that someone from outside might try and break in. We can hide the machine somewhere safe. Somewhere where no one will expect to look for it."

"Like where?" Logan asked.

"Oh…I might be able to think of something," Burke grinned.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The following night was the night the Institute held the dance. "Can't believe we're all getting so dressed up," Lance grumbled as he fidgeted with his tie. "But if this impresses Kitty..."

"Are you really gonna go through with this?" Todd asked. He was dressed up as well.

"Hey if you can get to be 'engaged to be engaged' with Althea," Lance pointed out. "So can me and Kitty. This will bring Kitty and I closer together. You'll see."

"Lance, I think you're making a big mistake," Todd shook his head. "But if this is what you really want…"

"It is," Lance interrupted. "Now come on." They met up with the other Misfits and they teleported to the dance.

"So the dance is in this Danger Room thing?" Shane asked as he looked around. "The place you told me about with all the explosions and the robots and stuff that could kill you?" The room had been transformed into a giant ballroom.

"Yeah but they've been shut down for the night," Fred told him. Lina was on his arm wearing a gorgeous green dress. "Shall we dance?"

"Love to," Lina grinned at him. "But can we get some food first?"

"I thought you'd never ask," Fred grinned.

"There's a couple made for each other," Shane remarked. He saw Jubilee move towards him. "Speaking of which…"

"So did they let of out of the stockade or did you make a break for it?" Jubilee glared at him. "You know it's bad enough that you ran from me, I mean even with the cops on your tail. But not to even call or e-mail me afterwards? What were you planning on just showing up and pretending you joined the Misfits out of the goodness of your heart?"

"Something like that…Wait, you knew?" Shane was surprised. "You knew this whole time?"

"Trinity told Multiple and he told **everybody,"** Jubilee folded her arms. "I mean getting caught by tripping over a Chihuahua?"

"Well Paris Hilton had no business being in that neighborhood," Shane grumbled.

"It wasn't her dog Shane," Jubilee said.

"It could have been," Shane grumbled. Then he realized someone was standing behind him. He looked up. "Oh no…"

"Oh yes," Logan growled.

"Hello…Sir," Shane gulped. "Fancy seeing you here."

"Let's get a few things straight shall we?" Logan put his face right in front of his. "I'm going to be watching you. You keep your hands to yourself, and you get to **keep **your hands." He shot out his claws. "Get the point?"

"Yes, sir," Shane squeaked.

"Good, have a nice night," Logan grinned. "It could be your last."

"That's enough Logan," Jubilee grabbed Shane's arm and dragged him away. "Geeze why do guys always have to do this macho territory thing?"

"You don't hate me?" Shane blinked as he was dragged off.

"I'm still ticked off at you but I want to dance," Jubilee told him as she dragged him away.

"Was that really necessary Logan?" Ororo folded her arms.

"Actually it was more fun than necessary," He grinned. "Well someone's gotta watch out for Jubilee."

"What about Rina?" Ororo raised an eyebrow.

"What about Rina?" Logan blinked. Ororo pointed and he turned in the direction. "You gotta be kidding me!"

Rina was smiling and accepting a corsage from the wheelchair bound Larry. Logan was in shock. "Him? Her? Foresight? When did **this** happen? **How** did this happen?"

"Both of them have been going to similar therapy sessions," Ororo told him. "You remember, the ones specially designed for those mutants who survived experimentation?"

"I wish I could forget them!" Logan groaned.

"That's the excuse you keep giving when you were supposed to go," Hank pointed out as he walked up to them. "I'm glad Lawrence asked her."

"You knew about this?" Logan glared at him.

"Logan **everyone** in the group knew about this," Hank looked at him. "I told you that you should go to those meetings."

"This is not happening…" Logan winced.

Rina and Larry came up to them. "Hello Mr. Logan," Larry said respectfully.

"Uh hello…Kids," Logan gulped. "Have…fun…." He waved weakly as they walked by.

"What? No warning?" Hank raised an eyebrow.

"Beast, the kid is in a wheelchair!" Logan snapped. "I can't threaten someone in a wheelchair!"

"You threaten Xavier all the time," Hank pointed out.

"The Professor ain't exactly helpless and you know it," Logan glared at him. "But this…This is…I can't just…Brain damage **and** a wheelchair? It would be like clubbing a little baby seal. Even if the kid is a Misfit…And a Trask…But he's still…I can't handle this! I need a drink!" He wandered away with a very dazed look on his face.

"Told you," Hank smirked at Ororo. "You and the Professor owe me fifty dollars apiece."

"It was worth it," Ororo grinned.

Low Light walked up to them. He was wearing a nice suit as well. His lack of headgear and goggles revealed his curly blond hair and bright blue eyes. "What's with Wolverine? He looked like he just saw the living dead crawl out of the grave."

"Interesting way of putting it," Hank pointed to Rina and Larry chatting.

"So he finally found out about those two huh?" Low Light chuckled. "Okay how'd he take it?"

"He cracked," Ororo smirked.

"Like the tunnel walls in Boston's Big Dig project during a rainstorm," Hank nodded. "He couldn't even threaten Larry properly."

"I am so glad the kids made me go to those meetings," Low Light chuckled. "Now Shipwreck owes me fifty bucks! Where is he anyway?"

"He's the DJ," Ororo pointed.

"Dance! Dance! Dance!" Shipwreck had his usual sailor's uniform on and a pair of dark shades. "Yowza! Yowza! Yowza!"

"Anything to keep him off the sauce and away from me," Ororo told him.

"It seems like a good turnout," Xavier said as he wheeled up with Margali behind him.

"Margali, you're here too?" Low Light asked.

"It couldn't hurt to have an extra chaperone," Margali told him. "And it was either this or try to coax my husband out of the bathroom for the rest of the night. The whole werewolf thing still has him freaked."

"You shouldn't worry about Kurt," Ororo told her. "He wouldn't do anything inappropriate with Amanda."

"It's not Kurt I'm worried about," Margali snorted. "It's that no good father of his I'm worried about! Xavier why is he **really** here?"

"He wants to spend more time with his son," Xavier told her. He and Burke agreed not to tell anyone the specifics of Burke's mission. Margali made a derisive snort. "You don't believe me?"

"It's **him** I don't believe," Margali corrected. "Let's just say when it comes to child rearing he's more interested in the conception part and doesn't follow through on the rest."

"Oh come on Mrs. Sefton," Hank pointed to Kurt and Burke talking. "See, he and Kurt are getting along famously. I think all these years as a human have changed him. They're bonding. Burke's not planning anything."

Meanwhile across the room…

"Kurt I need your help," Burke told him. "Come with me. The lives of everyone in the Institute may depend on it."

"Really?" Kurt's ears picked up. "It's some kind of secret mission isn't it? That's why you're here."

"Not so loud," Burke warned him. "Something is going on but I can't tell you all the details. Not here. I don't want to alarm the others. Let's go upstairs. There's something we need to do. But let's walk…No teleporting. At least not yet. Don't want to raise any suspicions now do we?"

"Oh sure," Kurt nodded. He was excited that his father was willing to include him. "You really want my help?"

"Of course son," Burke patted him on the back. "Let's just say that I think it's time you learned a little more about the family business."

Meanwhile back on the dance floor the students were all in groups dancing to upbeat songs. Well most of them. "Hey Lance," Angelica walked up with Doug. "Where's Kitty?"

"Dunno," Lance shrugged. "She went to get some punch. You two a couple?"

"No, we were just hanging out," Doug told him. "Getting a dance."

"Great, I wanted to talk to her," Lance sighed. "Not to mention dance."

"Well if it's a dance you want," Bobby walked up to them with Penny. She was wearing a pink dress and mittens on her hands so her claws wouldn't come out. "Here you go!" He gave her to him. "Have fun! Come on guys!" He grabbed Angelica and Doug.

"But…" Lance protested. He looked at Penny who stood there blinking. "Fine, but I get to lead. Penny…Penny…Be careful with the hair there…Ow! Not on my foot! Don't step on my foot!"

"Okay Drake what are you up to?" Angelica asked as Bobby ushered them out of the Danger Room and into the hallway.

"I just saw Kitty take Peter out this way," Bobby told them. "Rumor has it she's gonna dump Lance tonight!"

"What?" Angelica gasped. "Lance is planning on asking her to go steady! A kind of a pre-engagement deal!"

"Oh man this is gonna be a disaster!" Doug groaned.

"Yeah," Bobby nodded. "We gotta watch this!"

"You bet we will!" Angelica growled as they stalked Kitty and Peter.

They found the two of them in the living room. They crept and crouched behind the couch, listening. "I'm glad you wanted to talk to me," Peter sighed.

"Well I really think we need to say stuff to each other," Kitty sighed. "Things we should have said a long time ago."

"I never stopped loving you," Peter told her.

"And I never stopped loving you," Kitty said. "I mean I was hurt when you just gave up on us…"

"How did you expect me to react?" Peter asked. "I mean you and Lance…"

"Aren't doing as well as I thought we would," Kitty admitted. "I mean, I like Lance and we've been through a lot but…We just don't have the same…connection you and I have. Do you know what I mean?"

"So basically you've been staying with Lance because he was…" Peter struggled to find the words.

"Familiar, he's part of my past," Kitty sighed. "And I thought I could change him…No I thought he would get the parts I was looking for that you had."

"What do you **see **in Avalanche?" Peter asked. "I never understood that."

"I dunno, sometimes he can be really sweet…" Kitty sighed. "And he was the first other mutant I ever met. He understood everything I was going through. Even if he had no clue how to react to it. And I admit the whole bad boy thing was really exciting. But he has so many problems I'm wondering…"

"Maybe it's time to move on?" Peter asked hopefully.

"Yeah…" Kitty leaned in. Peter leaned in as well for a kiss.

"But Baby I said I was sorry…" Shane followed Jubilee as she burst into the room. "What more do you want?"

"Not to call me Baby for starters!" Jubilee snapped. She saw Kitty and Peter. "Oh…are we interrupting something here?"

"You could say that…" Kitty sighed.

"Doesn't matter," Angelica couldn't take it anymore. "We saw enough anyway!"

"Angelica? Bobby? Doug?" Peter's jaw dropped.

"Busted…" Doug winced.

"You can say that again!" Angelica glared at Kitty. "How could you do this to Lance, Kitty? And Peter! I know you and Lance have your differences but I thought you were better than this. How could you just take Kitty away from him like that?"

"But I didn't…We didn't…I didn't say I would take her back!" Peter shouted.

"What do you mean by **that?"** Kitty glared at him.

"Look I admit I was weak for a moment but…" Peter admitted.

"But what?" Kitty put her hands on her hips.

"You have to admit Firestar has a point," Peter told her.

"Oh **now **you decide to take her side!" Bobby groaned. "Pete as you've been whining to anyone who'd listen for months…Just take Kitty! Kitty dump Lance!"

"What do you mean **take** her?" Jubilee snarled. "Kitty's not an object you know?"

"Oh we all know what **she** is," Angelica glared at Kitty.

"You wanna fight?" Kitty glared at her.

"You bet I do," Angelica snapped.

"Damn this place has a lot of action around here," Shane whistled. "If you want my advice…"

"We don't!" Kitty and Angelica snapped at him.

"What's that noise?" Peter looked around.

"Don't change the subject!" Angelica snapped.

"No wait," Shane said. "I hear it too. It's coming from down the hallway." He went to check it out.

"Well why **not?"** Doug sighed as they followed him.

"Are you sure this is the right thing to do?" Kurt asked. He and Burke were hooked together and Kurt was wearing Forge's dimensional portal machine. **(From Shadow Dance) **"I mean we don't even have breathing masks on."

"Don't worry, I believe the atmosphere isn't as toxic as Xavier believes it would be," Burke told him.

"I still don't know," Kurt said. "I mean I know Forge made some modifications to this thing but I don't know what they are…"

"Don't worry," Burke told him. He heard the sound of voices coming closer. "Kurt we really have to do this now!"

"Okay…" Kurt turned on the device and teleported just as Kitty and company entered the room from one side.

A few seconds later Logan, Margali and Scott ran into the room after they saw a blinding flash. "I thought I saw them enter here," Logan sniffed. "And by the smell of things they teleported away."

"Kurt wasn't just using his powers was he?" Margali asked.

"You don't think he used that dimensional portal did he?" Scott asked.

"Afraid so, smells like they weren't alone either…" Logan grimaced.

Several more X-Men, Misfits and Amanda soon were in the room. "Mom what's going on? What was that light?" Amanda asked.

"I knew it!" Margali whirled on Xavier. "I **knew** he was going to pull something! He tricked you didn't he? He got you believing some stupid story about your students' safety and you let him have access to one of your machines didn't you?"

"Uh…" Xavier was clearly floored. "I didn't sense…" 

"Of course you didn't sense any trickery you idiot!" Margali shouted. "He's been doing this sort of thing for thousands of years! Human form or not his mind has more steel traps than a bear hunting store! He would only let you sense what he wanted you to sense!"

"What did you mean by that?" Amanda asked. "What is going **on **here?"

"I think we just made a **huge** mistake…" Hank gulped.

**Obviously this is gonna be different than the Comic version of the Draco. But it's still gonna be one wild ride! Next, Kurt finally learns the truth about his heritage and meets some more members of his family. **


	79. Dancing With A Demon

**Dancing With the Demons**

"Ugh, you were right about the air being breathable…" Kurt waved a hand in front of his face as they materialized in a very familiar section full of fire and lava. They were deposited on a rock. "But the smell is really bad."

"It'll have to do," Burke quickly grabbed the device from Kurt and shut it off.

"What are you doing?" Kurt asked. "Won't we be stuck here?"

"No…We'll be fine," Burke put his hands together. "Now I need to concentrate for a second…" He began to mutter several strange sounding words.

Several familiar creatures started to poke their heads out and surrounded them. "MATT!" Kurt yelled. "We have company! Company with very big teeth!"

"AHHHHHGGGGGHHHH!" A bright blue light surrounded Burke and his eyes glowed. The creatures fled in terror.

"Matt what's going on? What's happening?" Kurt yelled.

"Kurt I'm afraid I have a confession to make," Burke panted as he began his transformation. "There's something about my past I never told you. Now's a good as time as any…AAGGGGGGHHHHH!"

"MATT!" Kurt cried out. To his shock Burke transformed himself into a red demon complete with a long red tail like his.

**"I am free!"** Azazel held up his hands. "Yes! Hello body! It's been too long!"

"Matt…What happened to you?" Kurt was shocked. "Why…Why do you look like that?"

"Kurt, my real name is Azazel," He confessed. "Millennia ago my species diverged from humanity. We were a mutant race that was only able to find refuge in other dimensions. We became known as demons. About fifty years ago I found myself trapped inside a human form and took on the name Matthew Burke. The rest I think you can figure out."

Azazel turned around. He couldn't face Kurt's shocked expression. "Kurt, I'm sorry you had to find out like this," Azazel sighed. "I wanted to tell you sooner but I wanted to try to give you some sort of normal life. Such as it is."

He turned around and found his son had passed out from shock. "Maybe that wasn't the best way to tell him?" Azazel sighed.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Let me see if I get this straight," Margali pinched her nose. "You allowed Burke, who you **know** is a demon lord trapped in human form in this dimension…To have access to a machine that could allow him to go into other dimensions?"

"Demon lord?" Lance blinked. The remaining X-Men and Misfits were all standing around witnessing the scene. "Did she actually say Demon Lord?"

"She did," Paige said.

"Is there something you'd like to **share **with us Professor?" Jean's voice was very icy.

"Uh…We'll explain later," Logan gulped.

"You'll explain **now,"** Jean glared at him.

"Long story short it turns out that Burke is really the trapped form of a demon lord named Azazel," Roadblock sighed.

"Well technically Azazel is really a mutant species from pre-Biblical times," Hank shrugged. "Actually it turns out most demons are really mutant off shoots of humans that have evolved in different dimensions."

"Oh **that **clears it all up!" Lance said sarcastically. "So where the hell is Kitty?"

"Kurt's gone too," Amanda said.

"So's Jubilee, Iceman, Colossus, Firestar, Shooter and Cypher," Scott noticed. "Shouldn't have Kurt teleported back by now?"

"Unless Azazel managed to turn off the machine in the middle of the jump," Logan grunted. "Which is very likely…"

"But what about the others?" Amara asked.

"My machine must have dragged them in at the very last second," Forge remarked. "I made some adjustments so that the machine wouldn't create any open portals like the last time. It must have created a mini gravitational field strong enough to suck them in. It could have even scattered them to a different location than wherever Nightcrawler and Burke…uh Azazel landed."

"You mean they're stuck in that other dimension with no way out?" Scott asked. "You know the one with the fire and the lava…"

"Don't forget the big fanged Barney rejects," Tabitha grumbled.

"Like anyone could forget them!" Todd groaned.

"You mean there's more friends of Princess Fluffietta Tinkerbell's?" Daria squealed with delight.

"Princess who?" Logan looked at them.

"Don't ask," Althea groaned.

"Great! Just great!" Margali threw up her hands. "As if we didn't have enough problems now!"

"What problems? Azazel was turned back into a human," Logan snapped. "And he's stuck as Burke."

"Correction. He **was** stuck as Burke as long as he stayed in **this **dimension! But in **another** dimension he could simply use the different mystic wavelengths to transform himself **back **into Azazel **permanently!"** Margali snapped. "Especially if he has transported to the dimension he was exiled to!"

"Ah…" Hank frowned. "I see…That could be a problem."

"And if that's true he's probably already turned into Azazel by now," Margali folded her arms. "And he's also reunited with the rest of his clan and as we speak is probably preparing to return to Earth and conquer it!"

"Clan?" Logan asked. "How big a clan are we talking about?"

"Azazel has sired dozens of offspring in his centuries of life," Margali said. "And all of them have mystic or mutant powers!"

"But how could they conquer Earth if they've all been exiled to another dimension?" Fred asked. Everyone looked at him. "Oh right, he'd just use the portal machine do hickey. I forgot."

"So did Xavier," Margali glared at him.

"I don't suppose you have another machine that can get us in there?" Althea asked Forge.

"Even if I did, we'd need a teleporter that traveled at the right dimensional frequency to get there," Forge explained. "Perhaps if I use a bi polar flux spacial grid and over ride the sub harmonic frequencies…And if I scrap different pieces from my other inventions I can make something in about twelve hours…"

"Or we could just use my magic to get us there," Margali looked at them. "Just pop on home to get the right spell book, grab a quick change of clothes suitable for battle. It would take only ten…Fifteen minutes tops."

"That'd work," Forge agreed.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"So hot..." Bobby moaned. "Too hot...I hate the heat..."

"I'm not having any trouble," Angelica shrugged.

"Of course you're not! There's like lava and fire everywhere!" Bobby shouted. "How could you not be happy?"

"And I thought my life was a living hell before..." Doug groaned. "We're going to die...AGAIN!"

"At least we are dressed for the occasion," Peter looked at his singed tuxedo.

"Yeah we might as well go in style," Angelica said.

"I'd rather not go at all!" Doug snapped. "Is that another volcano over there?"

"Let me ask you something…" Shane grumbled as the mutants trudged in the desolate wasteland with fire all around them. "Is it **always** this screwed up around here?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Jubilee told him. "Oh that **smell…"**

"Yeah the stench of betrayal is pretty rotten," Angelica glared at Kitty.

"Do you really have to fight about this **now?"** Doug screamed.

"He's right," Kitty sighed. "If we are where I think we are, we have to get out of here before things get worse!"

"Worse?" Shane asked. "How do things get **worse?"**

SNARRRRRRRLLLLLLLLLL 

"That answer your question?" Peter armored up as dozens of familiar monsters with large fangs headed straight towards them.

"Great!" Angelica groaned. "More Princess Fluffietta Tinkerbells!"

"More **what?"** Shane yelled.

"Just shut up and run!" Kitty told him.

"**This** is safer than the Hellfire Club?" Doug screamed as they fled for their lives.

"Kurt, where the hell are you?" Jubilee shouted.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Kurt…Kurt please wake up. You may not be heavy but carrying you is starting to get a little ridiculous. I mean, I am returning home after a long absence. I'd like to have some kind of dignity when I walk in."

Kurt opened his eyes to find himself flung over his father's shoulder. Azazel was carrying the teleportation device with his other hand. "Oh you're awake. Good…"

Kurt tried to teleport off but couldn't. Instead he slid off his father's shoulder. "Where am I?"

"You're in my realm," Azazel told him. "This is the dimension you teleport through. Not really a coincidence if you think about it."

"But why can't I teleport out this time?" Kurt was puzzled.

"Well normally you can," Azazel admitted. "But I didn't want you to leave just yet so I sort of put a temporary spell on you. Don't worry it'll wear off soon enough. I just wanted you to meet the family."

"Family?" Kurt blinked. He saw a huge castle in the distance.

"Kurt you come from a long line of…" Azazel began. "Well actually it's just me that's a great lord but you have many members of your family that are great warriors and magicians."

"MOOORRRAAAARRRH!" Something that looked like a purple cow with three horns flew over their heads. Both father and son barely dodged it before it hit the ground. "Moooooorrrrrrr?" The creature lay there in a daze.

"You also have some relatives that are complete morons," Azazel growled. "Come on!"

They walked towards the castle. On the outside of the castle were three male demons that had a slight resemblance to Kurt. They were blue and had tails but other than that the similarities ended. One was slightly fat and wearing a brown fur lined outfit with dark blue hair. Another was much thinner wearing a red outfit with sequins and pink hair. The third was wearing black leather with a silver belt. He had long blackish blue hair and a goatee as well as a large pair of bat like wings.

"Oh yeah!" The fat one shouted. "That critter must have flown thirty feet! Good one Maxx!"

"Thanks Benos!" Maxx, the one with the wings whooped. "The Cowapult is my greatest invention ever! Right Stephan?"

"Yeah this is even better than the time we used it to splat paint on the walls!" Stephan, the one with the pink hair nodded.

"Oh really?" Azazel folded his arms. He stood right behind them. He saw there were globs of paint all over his castle walls as well as a lot of funny caricatures and graffiti in demon language. "**All **over the walls?"

"Yeah and then we used some dung to…" Stephan stopped and turned around. "Father?"

"Hello Boys…" Azazel growled. With a wave of his hand he used his magic to fling all three of them into some red mud.

"Aw man! And I just got this outfit!" Stephan whined.

"Father! But you're…You were dead!" Benos gasped.

"Well I'm much better now. What have you done? I haven't even been gone half a century and you idiots have wrecked my castle!" Azazel snapped.

"Uh…." Benos blinked as they crawled out of the mud. "We've been like meaning to clean that up."

"Yeah we were getting around to it," Stephan gulped.

"It was on the list," Maxx took a list from his back pocket and showed him.

"Enough!" Azazel knocked the list out of his hand. He turned to Kurt. "Sorry Kurt your brothers aren't exactly the sharpest spears in the armory."

"Brothers?" Kurt gasped.

"Half brothers," Azazel explained. "Their mother was a full demon who quite frankly makes Anna Nichole look like a Rhodes Scholar. Boys, this is your younger brother Kurt Wagner, also known as Nightcrawler. He didn't know what he was until now…"

Azazel winced as Benos started to pick his nose. "Might as well get all the shock over with," He groaned. "Kurt please believe me, most of your other brothers and sisters are not as stupid as they are."

"Most?" Kurt gasped. "Just how many do I have?"

"Well we'll find out after we take roll call," Azazel went into the castle. He began to walk around. "Ginniyeah! Ginniyeah! Where are…"

A tall bald woman with her eyes sewn shut suddenly appeared behind him. There was a diamond mark with an eye on her forehead and she was wearing robes that resembled bandages. "You…" Azazel blinked. "I hate it when you do that!"

"Welcome home my lord," She bowed. "I see you have not returned alone."

"Kurt, this is your cousin Ginniyeah," He explained. "She's a telepath. Don't worry about the eyes. She did that to herself so she could use her telepathy better."

"Greetings cousin," Ginniyeah nodded. "Shall I call the others?"

"Why not? It is my coming home party!" Azazel made his way to a huge throne in the middle of the room. "EVERYONE COME OUT NOW!"

Dozens of demons appeared. Some were blue like Kurt. Others were red like Azazel. Some were purple and others had humanoid appearances. "Lord Azazel! Lord Azazel has returned!" They cried out.

"My lord! We thought you were dead!" One female blue demon with large wings cried out.

"Please I haven't even been gone a full century," Azazel waved. "I've had vacations that lasted longer! The important thing is that I am back and I'm better than ever!"

"Lord Azazel!" The demons roared with glee.

"All right who's still alive?" Azazel looked around. "Let's see, I don't see Xanarn or Kelos…"

"They killed each other about twenty years ago," Benos said.

"Yeah they were both trying to fight for control and they cut off each other's heads at the same time!" Maxx laughed. "Snick! Snick! It was hilarious!"

"Big surprise there," Azazel sighed, clearly indicating that he wasn't. "Who else isn't here? Never mind I see who is. Anyone who isn't here is dead, am I right?"

"Except for Gobo," Stephan told him. "He was fooling around with magic again five years ago and he got sucked into another dimension. We think it's the one with those talking ponies but we're not sure."

"He always did have an unusual affinity for horses. No wonder he hasn't come back. All right Kurt here are your brothers Ydrazil…" Azazel introduced a tall pale humanoid demon with and eye patch, huge muscles, a large cross shaped scar on his chest and large black wings. "Ginniyeah's half brother."

"Let's just say our mother was grateful to Lord Azazel for slaying my father," Ginniyeah chuckled.

"Ophis…" Azazel introduced a huge feral like mutant. He pointed out a few more. "Marik, Kinan, B'all, Rhen, Zhin, Zhan…"

"**I'm **Zhin!" One tall red mutant with a tail called out.

"And **I'm** Zhan!" An identical mutant called out.

"Sorry…I always get those two confused," Azazel shrugged. "Balki, Enambram, Tain, Garak, Odo, Quark, Orion, Orak, Leosoi, Lucifer, Loki, Lenos, Martok, N'handu, Yukoro, Zenar, Helios, Tok, Rom…? **You're** still alive? Oh well. And there are your sisters Celene,Cleo, Marlani, Zenna, Aliania, Ysmin, Yukina, Adella, Alana, Azina, Amina, Akane, Arista, Amorata, Balania, Celes, Coral, Kima, Emerella, Damania, Darla, Saleme, Sellis, Lenna, Lyelle, Mifis, Jupex, Helene and Johanna. And over here are your nephews and cousins Gaiden, Ender, Veda, Balmara, Venosia, Zeus, Hades...I'm sorry there are a lot of new faces since I've been here."

"These are Genis, Lysander, Galadriel, Azazella, Gale, Foss and Tiruk," Maxx said pointing to more demons.

"Oh. Good. Everyone this is your brother Kurt. Say hello," Azazel waved.

"HELLO KURT!" His siblings, cousins and other relativesroared.

At that moment Kurt fainted again. "I really have to break the boy of that nasty fainting habit," Azazel sighed. "The last thing I need is another Gobo."


	80. What's Dracoing On?

**What's Draco-ing On?**

"IT'S OFFICIAL! I **HATE **MY LIFE!" Doug screamed as they ran from the monsters. "I HATE MY LIFE!"

"Well good, because at this rate you won't **have** it much longer!" Shane snapped as he fired off a few rounds at the monsters. They just kept coming.

"I knew I shouldn't have worn these shoes!" Jubilee struggled to run faster. She tripped and fell, tearing her dress on some rocks. "My dress!"

"We're trapped!" Kitty shouted as they found themselves cornered against a rock wall. "Bobby make a barrier!"

"It's too hot in here," Bobby said. "And not enough moisture to get my frost up!"

"My heat blasts aren't doing much!" Angelica shouted. "They must be too used to the heat!"

"Well they only live in a place full of fire and lava!" Doug screamed.

"MY DRESS!" Jubilee shouted turning up the strength of her powers to maximum, blinding all the monsters and injuring them with her fireworks. "NOBODY WRECKS MY DRESS AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!"

This made the monsters very mad. "This looks to be our last stand…" Peter growled as he punched some monsters in his armored form. Kitty dodged several attacking monsters by phasing just at the right time.

"Always thought I'd buy it in a shootout…" Shane grumbled as he hit several more dinosaurs. "This ain't exactly how I'd pictured how I'd go…"

"WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE! WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!" Doug clung to Bobby for support.

"Will you get a grip?" Bobby shouted. "And I don't mean around my waist!"

An optic beam from behind hit one of the monsters. Then a few time bombs. "Get outta here you Barney Rejects!" Tabitha shouted. Scott, Jean, Rogue, Remy, Rina, Logan, Ororo, Tabitha, Tim, Ray, Roberto, Amara, Althea, Lance, Todd, Fred, Pietro, Wanda, Xi, Amanda and Margali were running up to rescue them. The mutants were all in their uniforms and Amanda and Margali were in some kind of armor as well.

"You okay?" Scott asked as the monsters scattered.

"No! I broke a nail and my dress is torn!" Jubilee stomped her foot.

"My shoes are ruined!" Kitty huffed.

"My shoes and my dressare ruined and I broke two nails!" Angelica shouted.

"Yeah they're fine," Wanda groaned.

"How did you find us so fast?" Jubilee panted.

"Are you kidding?" Pietro asked. "Dougie here was screaming so loud we could hear him before we stepped out of the portal."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you…" Doug grabbed Pietro and hugged him.

"Okay this is not the kind of adoration I wanted…" Pietro tried to get loose. "Will you get off of me?"

"Thank you, thank you, thank you..." Doug kept hugging.

"This is so humiliating…" Peter put his hand on his head.

"Cypher will you pull it together?" Logan snapped. "You're embarrassing every X-Man here!"

"You're embarrassing every **man **here…" Shane groaned. "Not that we don't appreciate the rescue but aren't there a lot of you for just us?"

"Sorry to burst your bubble Shooter, but we're not here just for you," Lance said. "We gotta go fight Kurt's dad."

"Apparently Burke was really a mutant demon lord trapped in human form," Jean said cynically. "And surprise, the Professor never bothered to tell us!"

"So the super spy is really a demon lord?" Peter asked.

"Yes and he's probably planning on using Forge's device to invade the Earth with his army," Margali explained. "We have to stop him and get the device back before he uses it."

"Don't worry," Althea grinned. "Thanks to my sisters, we've got a few tricks of our own."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Kurt drifted out of slumber feeling very good. Very relaxed. When he opened his eyes he found out why.

He was lying down on a large group of pillows in the throne room. On top of him, massaging his bare chest was a young female blue demon with large wings. "Just relax," she purred. "You seemed so tense…"

"Whaaaaaa…" Kurt looked down and found his shirt was gone and he was only wearing his pants.

"You are so cute…" The female demon purred.

"Uh thanks…" Kurt tried to back away. "But aren't you one of my sisters?"

"Yeah, So?" She blinked. Then leaned in for a kiss.

"Down girl!" Azazel yanked her off Kurt. He flung her to the side. She landed on her feet. "Now go prepare for battle. Go on!" He waved her off.

"All right," She sighed before giving Kurt a wink and flying off.

"Sorry," Azazel sighed. "Her mother was a slut too."

"As if this night was not traumatic enough," Kurt groaned as he sat up. "So…Demons are really mutants?"

"Mutant offshoots of humanity but close enough," Azazel shrugged.

"This is unbelievable…" Kurt put his hand on his head.

"Is it really so hard to believe that mutants existed in the past?" Azazel asked. "Mutation is the core of evolution my boy. Old as time itself. Even older than Phyillis Diller's hairstyle."

"My head hurts so much right now..." Kurt groaned.

Azazel continued his lecture. "It has occurred throughout human civilization as well as nature. Rapid changes in the environment, adaptation to the world is necessary for survival, blah blah blah. You know the lecture. And the world has changed so drastically since my time way back then. And I don't mean the invention of Starbucks. Have you seen the world Kurt? The pictures NASA sends from space? Or Google? Ever notice all that brown and gray junk around all the cities? Particularly on the coasts? It's **lovely!"**

"You never liked humans at all did you?" Kurt asked.

"Well I was never exactly crazy about the **males** of the species. It's not that hard to figure out why! Any fool can see what humanity has done to the Earth!" Azazel snapped. "Instead of living in harmony with the world it's become a cancer, feeding off the Earth's life force and draining its resources! Literally destroying the world! And **they** call **us** evil?"

"Yeah and you've done such a great job **here**," Kurt pointed to the barren wasteland outside.

"You should have seen this place **before**," Azazel told him. "Believe me, this is an improvement. Don't worry when we take over the Earth, I'll spend a lot more time fixing the planet."

"Excuse me, you want to **what?"** Kurt's jaw dropped. "But you were always fighting to save the world!"

"I was," Azazel nodded. "And I'll be damned if I let fifty years of hard work go to waste while some greedy idiot decides to blow it up or pollute it beyond oblivion! And thanks to you I finally have the means to do it." He pointed to the machine on a table next to his throne.

"Forge's device…" Kurt put two and two together. "I won't teleport back for you!"

"You don't have to," Azazel said. "Now that I have my demonic powers back I can use the machine to teleport our entire clan to Earth."

"This is a lot for one night…" Kurt moaned.

"Kurt, it's the perfect plan," Azazel told him. "We teleport right into the Hellfire Club's inner sanctum. Kill 'em all, and take over their vast wealth. We use that wealth to buy ourselves all the power we need. Just like the Japanese only better. And those we can't buy we kill. Then we can use our influence to make the world better for everyone. Think about it Kurt, mutants will no longer be persecuted. Pollution will stop. Wars will end. The world's oceans will become clean again! Earth will be restored to its former emerald and azure brilliance! We'll even bring back the rainforest! Okay a lot of it will be in Cleveland but..."

"Kill them **all?"** Kurt gasped.

"It's an expression," Azazel covered. "You know how you say you're going to kill someone but you don't really do it. You beat them into submission instead. Except for the French. I'm sorry Kurt but they gotta go. The line has to be drawn somewhere. And obviously the FOH and all those other hate groups. People with no tolerance for others have to be wiped out! And definitely Paris Hilton. As if her acting or lack of it wasn't reason enough alone…That'll teach her to give me the…"

Azazel stopped and looked at Kurt. "Uh, bad birthday present," He covered. "The point is this is all for the better. Oh don't look at me like that. Humanity has had the Earth for a very long time and look at how they've abused it. Trust me, taking over the planet is the best thing for everyone!"

"Except for the people who live on Earth," Kurt strained to teleport but couldn't do it. So he decided to do the next best thing and make a grab for the teleportation device.

Unfortunately for Kurt, Azazel was faster. "Sorry my boy," He lifted him up. "If you're not with me, you're against me."

"You'd kill your own son?" Kurt challenged.

"Not like I haven't done it before," Azazel challenged back.

"I'll never help you!" Kurt shouted. "Never!"

A tense moment stretched out as Azazel held his son by the neck. Then he simply lowered Kurt to the ground. "I have to admit Kurt," Azazel shook his head. "I can't kill you. Out of all the sons I have ever had, you're my favorite."

"I think I'll take that as a complement," Kurt told him.

"I mean it, you remind me of myself at your age," Azazel told him. "Young, idealistic…Full of hope and optimism…Gods I was stupid back then. It's a miracle I survived."

The sounds of fighting could be heard. "Now what?" Azazel looked out the window. "Of course, Margali and your friends have come. And they're fighting tooth and nail with your brothers and sisters. And even though they are outnumbered...They're still winning. Big surprise."

He grabbed Kurt's arm with one hand and then took the teleportation device with the other. "Come on," He dragged him outside. "Might as well go say hello!"

The battle was going wild until everyone saw Azazel and Kurt. "Nightcrawler!" Ororo shouted.

"Yes we're here," Azazel shouted. "Look I have Kurt and the device. And if you don't want to see either of them harmed you'll all do as I say and knock it off!"

"But we already do what you ask Father," Benos called out.

"NOT **YOU!"** Azazel shouted. "THEM!"

"Oh..." Benos nodded. "That makes more sense."

"Now you know why I need your help Kurt," Burke sighed as he rolled his eyes.

"I could always teleport us out of this dimension," Margali said.

"We can't risk Nightcrawler's life!" Scott told her. "And Azazel knows it."

"If only there was enough moisture I'd freeze the smirk off his face…" Bobby growled.

"Oh yeah?" Althea grinned. She took out a box. "Hey Bobby, remember **this?"**

"That's one of your sisters' inventions," Bobby yelled. "Isn't it…?"

"Yup," Althea began to open the box. "The Portable Ocean…"

"The **what now?"** Azazel blinked. "Sorry, didn't hear that right."

The next thing Azazel heard was the loud roar of a huge ocean that came out of the box. "Oh…" Azazel sputtered just before the waters came crashing down. "A portable **ocean**…"

The water washed the demons all around. It also separated Kurt from Azazel. "Help!" Kurt floundered in the raging waters before Rogue flew over and grabbed him. She took him to higher ground where the Misfits and the X-Men were.

"Kurt let me ask you something, if you're always worried about protecting me, why am **I **always the one saving **your **sorry butt?" Rogue grumbled as she dumped Kurt onto the solid ground.

"Why didn't you just teleport?" Wanda asked.

"Can't," Kurt gulped for air. "Azazel put a spell on me."

"Is **that** all?" Margali used her powers and with a wave the spell was broken. "Spell's broken!"

"That enough water for you guys?" Althea called out.

"Oh yeah," Bobby grinned as he drew in the moisture and iced up. "I'm back in action!"

"Okay where did you people get a portable **ocean?"** Shane's jaw dropped.

"Scenes from a Study Hall," Althea told him. "Last year."

"Storm let's cool this place off!" Bobby called out. Between the two of them soon the entire area was covered in ice and snow.

"T-t-this is not…t-the h-homecoming I wanted," Azazel shivered.

"Can't…move…" One demon was frozen in a block of ice.

"It'll take weeks to freeze out my troops!" Azazel roared.

"Longer if I leave **this** here," Althea threw the box that spouted the portable ocean into a huge chasm. Soon the chasm was filling up with very cold water.

"Great…" Azazel grunted. "Always wanted a swimming pool. Well at least I still have the…" He realized the teleportation device was not in his hands. "Where did it go?"

"You mean this?" Jean had levitated the device from the water. "The controls are a bit frozen."

"I think we can manage without it," Margali grinned. "Well Azazel you got to go home at least. And now it's time we do the same!"

"Goodbye Father," Kurt glared at Azazel. "Enjoy your kingdom."

"Kurt," Azazel called out to him. "One day you'll know I was right. You'll know that taking over the human world is the only way to save the Earth itself."

"Maybe," Kurt glared at him. "But not **today!" **

Soon they had all teleported off, leaving Azazel and his family in the cold. "Well this is a bit disappointing," Azazel grunted. "Well what are you waiting for? Go thaw each other out! You want to freeze your tails off? Move it!"

He stormed back into the castle with Stephan trailing him. "Oh well," Azazel sighed as he sat on his throne. "At least I'm myself again. I've been restored to my throne…."

"We can go skiing now!" Stephan said brightly.

Maxx slid past the window. "WHOAAAAH!"

WHUMP!

"I'm okay…" Maxx moaned. "Man this stuff is cold!"

"And besides, tomorrow is another day…" Azazel sighed.

"Oh you wanna watch Gone with the Wind?" Stephan asked brightly.

Azazel responded by smacking Stephan on the head. "I'm back here again…" Azazel grumbled. "I can't believe I'm stuck **here** again!"

**Next: The gang goes home and commiserates on the insane evening they've had. And more insanity continues…**


	81. I Am So Not Okay

**I Am So Not Okay**

"Well let's see," Kurt sighed as he sat down with a huge ice cream sundae. "To recap my family tree: My mother Mystique is a mutant terrorist who has tried to kill us several times. On her side of the family I have an older human half brother who founded the FOH and tried to kill us."

"Whose father is Sabertooth," Rogue added as she took a spoonful of ice cream and ate it. "Then there's me, whose dad is none other than Mag-not-so-neato, a maniac who wants to rule the world." All the X-Men and Misfits were sitting around eating ice cream in the living room. Despite the long night no one felt like sleeping.

"And his other kids are Quicksilver, The Scarlet Witch…" Kurt added.

"Don't forget Polaris," Pietro pointed out. "Daddy's little suck up."

"She took over **your **job pretty quickly," Wanda grunted.

"And then Mystique had my younger brother a few months ago, who we had to give away in order to save his life from vengeful ninjas," Kurt went on. "Thanks to **his** father Zartan, leader of the Dreadnoks."

"Because Zartan killed of my teacher Storm Shadow's uncle, leader of a clan of ninjas," Althea added. "But that's a different story."

"A long different story," Pietro rolled his eyes.

"And Zartan has younger twin siblings and a homicidal maniac of a daughter," Althea went on.

"And as if my family tree wasn't insane enough tonight I find out that my biological father is not really a British Secret agent but a Demon Lord trapped in the form of a British Secret Agent!" Kurt groaned. "And I have no idea how many other half brothers and sisters I have on **that** side of the family! And something tells me I don't **want** to know. It's official, my life is screwed up."

"No, it's just your family that's screwed up," Pietro told him as he ate.

"You ought to know…" Lance snickered.

"Yeah well I can totally relate to you, Kurt," Jubilee groaned. "Just a few weeks ago I find out my aunt is a worldwide known assassin and then I lose her in a gunfight! How screwed up is that?"

"Well at least she didn't try to drag you into the 'family business'," Remy grumbled as he played with his ice cream. "Now that Remy thinks about it, my adopted father trying to get me married off to the head of the Assassin's Guild was probably the nicest thing he ever did!"

"How was **that **nice?" Betsy asked.

"You never met her cousins," Remy grunted. "Trust Remy, out of all of 'em she was the pick of the litter!"

"Oh yeah?" Kitty challenged. "You wanna talk dysfunction? Doug and I could write a **book **on dysfunction!"

"One book?" Doug looked at her. "We could write a whole mini series!"

"At least your mom didn't run off with a guy who lives under the sea," Althea reminded her.

"Or your relatives didn't break out of jail and are wanted by the federal government of two different countries," Fred sighed. "Granny ran into a little legal trouble in the Bahamas where she had her bar."

"What kind of legal trouble?" Lina asked.

"Let's just say it involves fire insurance fraud, the governor of the island, a few local drug dealers and a very confused seal," Fred sighed.

"We don't wanna know about this, do we?" Scott asked Lance.

"No," Lance shook his head. "Trust us on this one."

"Well at least your families still wanted you in some way," Lina sighed.

"Yeah, they didn't kick you to the curb when they couldn't handle your mutations," Bobby grumbled.

"Technically Mystique did," Todd pointed out.

"For the last time her dropping me off that bridge was an **accident!"** Kurt snapped.

"**Sure** it was, Blue Boy," Todd rolled his eyes. "And my old man merely mistook me for a Thanksgiving Turkey when he tried to take a carving knife to me!"

"Makes you glad our family isn't as weird as this doesn't it?" Scott looked at Jean.

"Scott, hello?" Kitty said. "Daughter popping in from a future alternate reality?"

"Oh yeah," Scott sighed. "I guess that does count as weird huh?"

"Yeah, kind of," Lance scoffed.

"Don't forget my hateful witch of a grandmother," Jean grumbled.

"If only we could forget her," Tabitha rolled her eyes. "And I wish I could forget my criminal father and alcoholic mother."

"Is she back in rehab again?" Sam asked.

"She never made it out in the first place," Tabitha groaned. "I have no idea how she was able to score those two cases of vodka **two hours** before she was supposed to be released!"

"And I thought my old man and uncle ditching me and my mom OD-ing in a drug overdose was tough," Shane sighed.

"You want to talk tough?" Lance asked. "You should have seen some of the foster families some of us ended up with."

"At least you all **had** families," Xi pointed out. "You weren't created in a lab." He then noticed Rogue and Rina. "Well most of you…"

"Is it just me or do our lives really suck?" Ray asked.

"Here's a hint," Roberto said. "For once it's **not** you."

"What I can't believe is that all the adults knew about this and didn't say anything to me," Kurt grumbled. "Especially the Professor!"

"Gee the Professor keeping secrets," Jean said sarcastically. "What a shock."

"Well what was he going to say, Kurt?" Wanda asked. "Guess what? Your Dad is really a Demon Lord who keeps plotting to take over the world? And you actually are half demon?"

"**Quarter** demon," Kurt corrected. "Technically."

"Technically?" Todd asked. "How can you **technically** be only a quarter demon when your father is a full demon?"

"Because he was in a human body with his demon DNA locked away," Wanda explained.

"But his demon DNA was full blown into Kurt," Bobby said. "Thanks to Magneto's experiments."

"And combined with Mystique's mutant DNA…" Sam thought. "Which makes Kurt a mutant half-quarter demon…I can't do this. My head is starting to hurt."

"**Your** head is starting to hurt?" Kurt snapped. "What am I saying? Of course the Professor couldn't tell me! This is something I definitely didn't want to know about!"

"Look no matter which way you look at it," Todd shrugged. "You're still a mutant and your family's nuts. That's all you need to know."

"Way to simplify things Toad," Pietro rolled his eyes.

"Actually that does help," Kurt admitted. "At least that way it will keep me from screaming all night and into the morning."

"It **is** morning," Jean pointed out.

"So it is," Lance noticed the sun coming up. "And another insane dance has ended. We really gotta stop going to these things."

"Well it was no exploding volcano but it was a memorable prom to say the least," Tabitha quipped. "I don't want any more ice cream."

"Yeah it is breakfast," Fred nodded. "How about pancakes?"

"How about ice cream **on **pancakes?" Kurt suggested.

"Oh Kurt…" Kitty winced. "Gross!"

"Now we all know where your eating habits come from," Scott groaned.

"It does explain a lot doesn't it?" Sam nodded.

"You know what?" Roberto looked up. "I could go for something too. How about waffles?"

"Waffles are good," Ray said.

"Wow you two agree on something," Tabitha noticed. "Things **are **desperate around here."

"I don't want anything too heavy," Amara said. "We have Danger Room practice in about a couple of hours. What am I saying? I just can't do it. Scott can I please be excused? Just this once?"

"We just literally escaped certain death," Scott looked at her. "Even **I'm** not in the mood for Danger Room practice."

"Good lord Hell has frozen over," Bobby rolled his eyes. "Oh wait I froze it myself."

"I say we celebrate," Tabitha turned on some music.

"Why not?" Doug groaned. "Any day could be my **last!** Why not party?"

The students kept celebrating all through the morning. Eating, dancing, watching videos and playing games. Talking, laughing…Just having a good time. And none of the adults interfered. Most of them were too busy hanging out in the Professor's study trying to wind down. "I can't believe this place barely has any dents in it," Logan grunted. "And now the kids are starting another party."

"I don't think this party has **stopped** yet," Hank admitted. "We've been going on since we got back."

"I think we're all overstressed," Xavier admitted as he poured himself another glass. "We've had a rough year."

"I thought **last** year was our rough year?" Logan grumbled.

"It was until we got to **this** year," Shipwreck told him.

"Great. I can't wait until **next **year," Low Light groaned.

"I think the next couple of days we should just focus on resting," Ororo nodded.

"We seriously need the downtime," Hank said. "Not to mention a few refills."

"It does seem like all of you have just been going on and on," Margali said. "And that's me talking. I mean you can't just live the way you've all been living with everything snowballing and not relieve some stress."

"True," Xavier sighed. "Shouldn't you call your husband and let him know that you and your daughter aren't coming home?"

"I think he's still passed out," Margali groaned. "He's been medicating himself into a daze ever since the Wolf Clan attacked. He's afraid to leave the house. Thank god he's able to get all his business done by Internet."

"Now he knows how we feel," Warren grumbled. "Most of the time none of us leave the mansion if we can help it."

"Now that I think about it I felt a lot safer fighting demons in another dimension than going into Downtown Bayville," Ororo sighed.

"You think this is bad now, if people ever found out that demons are really an advanced form of mutant life..." Hank began.

"Oh I can hear Pat Roberston now," Warren cringed.

"Anybody wanna drink?" Shipwreck asked. Everyone agreed and took one. And another. And another.

So the strange party continued all through the day. But more than eating, drinking, dancing and frequent trips to the bathroom was going on.

"I don't believe it!" Pietro shouted. The majority of the Misfits were hiding out in one of the bedrooms upstairs.

"I do," Fred grumbled. "I knew the little witch would cheat on him the moment his back was turned. Just like an X-Girl to say one thing and do the opposite."

"This is not about Jean isn't it?" Todd asked. "I thought you were over that?"

"I am," Fred told him. "It's about Tabitha. She totally promised me that I could have the last pint of Chunky Monkey and she ate it! Liars! All of 'em!"

"Honey focus," Lina put her hand on his arm. "Lance first, monkey second."

"Where's Lance now?" Arcade looked around.

"In the bathroom," Xi told him. "He made the mistake of munching on something Kitty made. You would have thought the green stuff on top would have been his first clue not to eat it."

"That's cause Amara told him it was frosting," Fred snorted. "Another liar in the bunch!"

"Well that buys us some time at least," Althea sighed. "But everyone else in the mansion has probably heard it by now. I mean Jubilee is just as bad as Kitty at spreading gossip."

"So that's how everybody found out about me and the stupid dog," Shane grumbled. "Wait if she is talking then maybe Lance will overhear…"

"Hello? Xi said he ate something Kitty made," Todd told him. "No one's gonna even come **near **that bathroom for a few days!"

"Besides she won't just confront Lance with this," Angelica said. "She's more on Kitty's side I think."

"Doug won't squeal," Wanda thought. "He's too shell shocked. But Bobby would be a problem."

"Nah I don't think Bobby will say anything to Lance," Fred shook his head. "Especially after what happened last year!"

"And what my sisters did to him," Althea smirked. "But maybe we should tell Lance. He has a right to know about this."

"Are you **nuts?** We can't tell Lance!" Pietro snapped. "Not unless you wanna see a new Grand Canyon right in Bayville!"

"He's right," Wanda agree. "This would kill him. And everyone around him. And possibly a few states over."

"So what do we do?" Todd asked. "We can't just let him get played!"

"We gotta get Lance to break up with Kitty before she can break up with him," Althea said. "That way at least he'll have some dignity."

"And how are we gonna do that?" Arcade asked.

"Give me a moment," Althea grumbled. "I gotta think about this."

Meanwhile in another part of the mansion Jean had confronted Kitty. "Kitty what's this I hear about you and Peter?" She asked. "Is it true that you're cheating on Lance?"

"No, not exactly…" Kitty sighed. "Well maybe technically almost but…"

"Technically almost? So what **did **happen?" Jean asked.

"We were talking about how we felt for each other. And both of us realized what a mistake we made giving up so fast. Then one thing led to another and the next thing I knew Peter and I were about to kiss," Kitty coughed.

"And?" Jean's eyes widened.

"And Jubilee and Shane burst in arguing," Kitty groaned. "Then Angelica and the others burst in who turned out to be watching the whole time. Nothing happened but I don't know what to do!"

"You're in love with Peter aren't you?" Jean asked. "Kitty you have got to tell Lance."

"But I don't want to hurt Lance," Kitty said. "I love him too. In a different way but I love him."

"Kitty, you can't just string Lance along because you're attracted to him when you're really in love with someone else," Jean told her. "Trust me on this.You'll hurt him even more if you hide the truth."

"I know, I know…" Kitty groaned.

"And the Misfits probably know too by now," Rogue walked in. "Okay what did I miss?"

"Kitty and Peter almost kissed," Jean said.

"I know **that,"** Rogue told her. "Jubilee's spreading it all along the gossip trail."

"Oh my god Lance!" Kitty gasped. "If he hears about this…" 

"Bayville's pothole problem is gonna get a whole lot bigger," Rogue added. "Don't worry I spoke to everyone and no X-Man is gonna squeal to Lance. Actually no one is going to go **near** Lance for a while."

"He's **still** in the bathroom?" Jean asked. "Kitty what did you put **in** that cake?"

"I have to break it off with him," Kitty wrung her hands.

"Who?" Rogue asked. "Peter or Lance?"

"Lance of course!" Jean told her. She looked at Kitty. "You do mean Lance, right?"

"Yeah…I think…No, I definitely have to break up with him," Kitty sighed. "Lance. I mean Lance. Break up with Lance."

"That's not exactly the most difficult thing in the world," Rogue snorted. "You guys break up every other week."

"Right, only this time it'll be permanent…" Kitty groaned. "The cake! I can blame it on he doesn't appreciate my cooking."

"Oh so he'll think it's all **his** fault," Rogue mocked. "Brilliant plan."

"Well at least that way he won't go nuts and trash the mansion!" Kitty snapped.

"She's got a point," Jean admitted.

"WHAHOOOOOO!" Shipwreck and Hank zoomed by in the hallways riding some kind of super powered skateboard.

"Worrying about the mansion getting trashed is a pretty moot point by now…" Rogue blinked.

"Great," Jean groaned. "Shipwreck's got them plastered again."

"And they always complain about **us **wrecking stuff?" Rogue asked. "Do the words personal responsiblity mean anything to anyone over 21 around here?"

"I have to do this now…" Kitty made her way to the door.

"Kitty, are you sure now is such a good time?" Jean stopped her.

"Jean, if I don't do this now I might lose my nerve," Kitty admitted. "I gotta do this." She left the room.

"Five will get you ten she won't do it," Rogue told Jean. "Somehow she'll chicken out."

"Kitty can be very determined when she wants to be," Jean told her.

"Trouble is she doesn't wanna be," Rogue folded her arms. "I can see it in her eyes."

"We'd better go along for moral support," Jean sighed following Kitty.

"Sure the boy's in a world of pain already," Rogue shrugged as she followed Jean. "Why not give him a little more?"

They went down the halls and ran into Althea. "Where's Kitty?" Althea asked. "Where is that two timing little witch? I gotta few words for her?"

"She's going to break up with Lance," Rogue told her.

"Not if I convince him to break up with her **first!"** Althea started to walk faster. Jean held her back with her telekinesis. "HEY!"

"Sorry but maybe it's best that Kitty break up with Lance," Jean said.

"And how is she going to do something like that without turning the Institute into one giant landfill?" Althea snapped as she struggled to break free. "Give some lame excuse like blame him for not liking her lousy cooking?"

"Uh well…" Jean blinked and let her go. "Wait! What was **your **plan? You weren't going to tell him…?"

"Of course not!" Althea snapped. She stopped for a second. "I was…thinking of something else."

"You didn't have a plan either did you?" Rogue folded her arms.

"Well at least my goal was to give Lance some dignity in this breakup!" Althea snapped.

"Oh my tummy…" Lance moaned. Tears ran down his face as Kitty supported him. They walked past the three girls. "I feel so bad…I'm sorry…I'm sorrrrr-yyyy."

"No Lance, it's my fault. I made that cake and I wasn't paying attention to the recipe…" Kitty sniffed. "I'm pretty sure what you coughed up wasn't blood. Don't worry I'll take care of you. I promise…"

"Oh god…" Jean rolled her eyes as they left. "Unbelievable…Un-freaking believable!"

"I told you she couldn't do it," Rogue shook her head.

"Oh she's dead," Althea narrowed her eyes. "One way or another she's **dead!"**

**Next: The aftermath of the party has some bizarre consequences! How bizarre? One couple ends up in a compromising position! But which one? Prepare yourselves for a shock! **


	82. Storm's Worst Nightmare

**Storm's Worst Nightmare**

The next day…

"Goddess what a night…" Ororo shuffled into the kitchen. "My head hurts…"

The Misfit kids were sitting in the kitchen as she slumped in. "Well look who finally got up this morning," Fred said cheerfully.

"Sleep well?" Pietro grinned.

"Don't we have any coffee?" Ororo grunted as she looked around.

"It's in the cupboard," Todd remarked.

"Ugh," Ororo groaned as she reached for it. Everything seemed out of place. She pulled out a mug. "Are there any other mugs besides Donald Duck ones in the house?"

"I think there's a Happy Face mug on top," Lance said casually.

"Wonderful," Ororo sighed. She looked in the sink and there was a pile of dirty dishes. "Why are all these dishes here?"

"Because they're dirty?" Wanda asked wryly.

"A little slow isn't she?" Fred snickered.

"All right it is way too early for you Misfits to come over here and bug us," Ororo groaned. "So why don't you all go home?"

"Uh, Storm," Lance said. "We **are** home. You're not at the Institute. You're at the Misfit House."

Reality sank in hard on Ororo. "**What?**"

"You're at the Misfit House," Arcade told her.

"Where you spent the night," Pietro grinned. "**Remember?**"

Ororo looked like a deer caught in the headlights as her mind started to de-fog. "Please tell me I spent the night in the guest room…" She moaned.

"Nope," Todd shook his head.

"On a couch?" Ororo guessed.

"Not exactly," Pietro said.

"On the floor?" Ororo asked weakly.

"Nope," Althea said. "Think a minute. It'll all come back to you."

"Five…" Lance counted on his fingers. "Four, three, two…"

"Good morning!" Shipwreck walked in wearing a bathrobe and a huge smile.

**"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"** Ororo screamed as she fled the room.

"We have lift off!" Lance quipped.

"Congratulations Shipwreck!" Todd raised his juice cup. "You finally landed her!"

"Yeah it took a while but I knew she couldn't resist my charms," Shipwreck preened.

"Especially since she wasn't sober," Althea quipped. "Alcohol **is **your best friend Pop."

"FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT'S HOLY THIS HAS GOT TO BE A DREAM!" Ororo screamed from the next room.

"Morning all," Cover Girl yawned as she walked into the kitchen. "Well I see Storm's up. Any coffee left?"

"Yeah right here," Lance poured her a cup.

"AGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!" Ororo screamed louder. "UNCLEAN! UNCLEAN!"

"So…" Cover Girl began. "What do you kids have planned for today?"

"I KNOW WHAT I NEED!" Ororo stuck her head in. "A SHOWER!"

"Again?" Low Light asked as he walked in. "You and the sailor were in there for over three hours last night."

Ororo responded to this by screaming even louder and running upstairs. The sound of thunder could be heard. "So…Any coffee left?" Low Light remarked.

"You're being awfully casual about this," Wanda remarked.

"This isn't exactly the first time a woman's flipped out after realizing she's spent the night with Shipwreck," Cover Girl told them.

"Lord knows my mother had a few episodes," Althea groaned.

"OH GODDESS NO! NO! NO!" Ororo screamed. "I DID NOT DO THE THING WITH THE HARNESS WITH SHIPWRECK! NO! THIS IS THE MOST DEGRADING THING I HAVE EVER DONE!"

"What do you mean?" Shipwreck called out. "**You **weren't wearing it! You were the one with the whip!"

"Please tell me you remembered to use birth control," Althea said.

"I'm pretty sure," Shipwreck shrugged. "Maybe…"

"AAGGGGHHHHH!" Ororo screamed upstairs.

"You know I think her hair just turned a shade whiter," Todd observed.

"We are going to have a lot of fun with this aren't we?" Lance grinned.

"Oh yes we are," Todd snickered.

"Unclean…unclean…" Ororo muttered to herself. "Unclean…"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"What a night…" Logan grumbled as he made his way down the hallway that afternoon. "The place is a mess, half the kids are still asleep, Beast is coughing up hairballs with Twinkie bits in 'em…Charles has a mother of a headache…"

As he passed Ororo's room an arm reached out and grabbed his shirt. "In here!" Ororo hissed as she dragged him inside and shut the door.

"Gee Ororo as flattered as I am by the attention…" Logan said wryly.

"I need to talk to you," Ororo said in a hushed voice. "Do you…remember what happened last night?"

"I wish I could forget," Logan groaned.

"Then you know?" Ororo gasped.

"I think the whole neighborhood knows," Logan groaned.

"Oh Goddess no!" Ororo moaned.

"I tell you Ororo I have never been so embarrassed in my life," Logan grunted.

"I know…" Ororo cringed.

"The way Beast and Wings acted was inexcusable! I don't care how drunk they were!"

"I know I…What? What are you talking about?"

"McCoy and Worthington throwing their pants off and mooning every car that passed the building," Logan said. "And then they tried to TP the Institute! They were worse than the kids! I spent half the night trying to get them down from a tree!"

"You're kidding," Ororo blinked.

"I wish," Logan groaned. "I'll never forget Jean laying into them and them laughing it up like it was the funniest thing in the world. And then she used her powers to toss 'em into the pool."

"She threw them in the pool?"

"Twice, and they **still** didn't sober up!" Logan rolled his eyes.

"**That's** what you were talking about?" Ororo asked.

"That's what **everyone** was talking about," Logan told her. "And they still will be for quite a while. Especially with all the home movies Multiple, Trinity and the Icecube shot. What? What did you **think **I was talking about?"

"Never mind," Ororo said quickly. "It doesn't matter."

"Something tells me it does. Spill it. What happened?"

"Logan…" Ororo gulped. "I did something bad…really, really, **really** bad."

"Oh come on 'Ro how bad could it have been?" Logan asked.

**"Bad!"** Ororo groaned.

"It can't be that bad."

"It is!"

"Oh what did you do? Sleep with Shipwreck?" Logan chuckled. Ororo gave a painful squeak. "WHAT? YOU DIDN'T?"

"I was drunk! I didn't know what I was doing!" She cringed.

"Obviously!" Logan threw up his hands. "How could you be so careless?"

"How could I be so careless? How could you let that happen to me?" Ororo snapped. "You knew I was drinking hard!"

"Yeah and so were Hank and Warren!" Logan snapped. "Between the two of them and trying to keep the kids under control, not to mention keeping Charles from popping too many wheelies I had my hands full!"

"Wheelies?"

"Don't ask!" Logan shook his head. "But don't blame me for this! How could you be so irresponsible?"

"I don't know!" Ororo snapped back. "Nearly getting killed by demons in another dimension? Fighting the Shadow King and facing my childhood nightmares? Evan? Take your pick! I haven't exactly had a stress free month."

"We haven't had a stress free **year!** You don't see anyone else running off and sleeping with Shipwreck!"

"Look it all just got to me! I couldn't take the pressure any more! I got drunk and needed a shoulder to cry on and the next thing I knew…." Ororo groaned. "Goddess what a mess!"

"Does anyone else know?"

"Besides Shipwreck?"

"Uh, yeah."

"The Misfits…" Ororo cringed.

"How many of them?" Logan raised an eyebrow. "All of them?"

"Technically no…" Ororo hesitated. "I'm pretty sure the babies are too young."

"You're screwed," Logan told her.

"I KNOW!" Ororo shouted. "Goddess what have I done?"

"You know its only going to be a matter of time before the Misfits tell everyone here what happened," Logan said.

"Not before they twist the knife in me…" Ororo hissed.

"Unless Shipwreck announces it to the world," Logan thought. "Knowing him that's a good possibility."

"No! That's even **worse!"** Ororo shouted. "What am I going to do? I feel like I've slept with the Creature of the Black Lagoon!"

"Worse, this is the man who sired the insane mermaid with a Toad fixation and the Triplets from Hell!" Logan shouted. "And you gave him **another **chance to reproduce?"

"I'm **not** pregnant!" Ororo shouted. She winced and lowered her voice. "I tested myself and ate a dozen morning after pills I got from Bree."

"Well that's a relief," Logan sighed.

"Tell me about it," Ororo moaned. "Logan what am I going to do?"

"We could always threaten Shipwreck," Logan thought. "And the kids. No that won't work. Almost nothing scares the Triplets. How much money do you have?"

"Logan be serious!"

"I am, how much money do you have?" Logan asked. "Maybe we can buy 'em off?"

"There's no amount of money that's going to stop them from blabbing!" Ororo snapped.

"You're right," Logan thought. "Maybe we can blackmail them?"

"Yes," Ororo had a strange look in her eye. "Blackmail. That's good. That's a good plan. There must be **something** those maniacs have done that they don't want anyone to know about! We'll find it and then no one has to know my shame!"

"OH MY GOD!" They heard Kitty squeal down the hall. She phased through the door and looked at Ororo. "YOU SLEPT WITH SHIPWRECK?"

"Shout a little louder Half Pint," Logan groaned. "I don't think they heard you on the other side of town."

"I'm dead!" Ororo moaned. "How did **you** find out?"

"Heh heh," Todd poked his head in the door and grinned.

"**You…**" Ororo's voice was cold.

"Not just him," Kitty said. "Every Misfit is going door to door announcing the news. They're literally waking people up to tell them!"

"Don't forget the e-mails Trinity's sending out," Todd added. "You know to collect on the bets we made."

"And I suppose Shipwreck is bragging to everyone, am I right?" Logan asked.

"Are you kidding? He's dancing around the front lawn waving a banner," Todd told her. "See for yourself."

"Yup he is," Logan looked out the window. "Great, just what we need! Another nut running around in his underwear making a spectacle of himself on the front lawn."

"I bet the neighbors are just **loving** this," Kitty remarked.

"I am never leaving my room again…" Ororo fell onto her bed.

"Good that will make it easy for Shipwreck to find you," Todd said. "You know in case…"

"GET OUT TOAD!" Logan roared.

"Okay, okay I'm going! I'm going! Oh by the way Storm, remember when you zapped me a long time ago back when we first met?" Todd asked. "You know that crazy test to see if I was a mutant? **Now **we're even." Then he fled the room.

Kitty gave a harsh glare at Ororo. "Well I hope you're happy," She folded her arm. "Did you at least use protection?"

"Yes! I was drunk not stupid!" Ororo said.

"Actually sleeping with Shipwreck is kind of stupid," Logan pointed out.

"Thanks a lot Logan," Ororo glared at him.

"And everyone complains about my relationships with Lance and Peter?" Kitty fumed. "At least I'm not stupid enough to sleep with them!"

"Not for lack of trying," Rogue walked in. "Okay Ororo, I think we need to have a serious talk about birth control."

"It's official, I'm in Hell..." Ororo moaned.

"Look at the bright side, Ororo. It can't get much worse than this," Logan said.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"MY AUNT SLEPT WITH **WHO…?"** Evan roared as he read his e-mail. "AND SHE HAS THE NERVE TO CRITICISE **MY **LOVE LIFE?"

"What is going **on** here?" Emma Frost walked into the room.

"I'LL KILL HIM!" Evan shot out some spikes and imbedded them into the wall. "I'LL KILL THAT NO GOOD LOUSY SAILOR THE NEXT TIME I SEE HIS FACE! HE'S A DEAD MAN!"

"Who?" Emma glimpsed his mind. "I see…Wait a minute…" She glanced at the e-mail. "Whoa! That's…the most disgusting thing I have read since I snooped in Pierce's diary."

"HOW COULD SHE DO THIS TO ME?" Evan shouted.

"Hey Evan…" Bevatron peeked in. "Heard about your aunt. Well I guess bad taste is genetic."

"DIE!" Evan tackled Bevatron and started wailing on him.

"OW! OKAY! I'M SORRY MAN! OW! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY!" Bevatron pleaded for mercy. "MS. FROST HELP ME!"

Emma was still stunned. "And Storm has the gall to call **me** a tramp?"


	83. Switched Again!

**Switched Again!**

A week and several therapy sessions passed since the night of the dance. Things seemed to be quieting down. Of course that is when trouble usually starts for the X-Men and this was no exception.

"Scott," Jean caught up to her boyfriend in the halls one night. "I think we might have a problem on our hands."

"Really? And how is this different than every **other **day of the week?" Scott smirked. "Okay **who** did **what **this time?"

"Bobby, but it's not exactly what he did," Jean hesitated before showing him a booklet. "It's what he's **going** to do when he finds out about **this**."

"A TV guide?" Scott asked as he took it. "Bobby is going to have problems with a TV guide? Forge didn't do anything to this did he?"

"No, but for once maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea if he did. Read page 37. That describes the guide's pick for the movie of the week," Jean pointed.

"Frozen Hearts, the Madeline Drake Story?" Scott read. "Is this what I **think **it is?"

"If you're thinking Bobby's parents sold their life story of having a mutant for a son, yes," Jean sighed.

"This is unbelievable," Scott read the article. "Just when I think the media can't do any more damage to us…Do you think Bobby knows about this?"

**"I DON'T BELIEVE THIS! I DON'T FREAKING BELIEVE THIS! HOW COULD THEY DO THIS TO ME?" **

"He knows," Jean and Scott sighed together.

They went downstairs and found Bobby, many of the X-Men and the Misfits crowded around the large television. Bobby had a shocked look on his face. Jean glared at Pietro who was happily eating popcorn. "You told him didn't you?"

"Of course I did," Pietro grinned. "I mean we couldn't let Iceman miss his big movie debut!"

"This is garbage! Pure and simple!" Bobby fumed.

"I know," Pietro said. "You never invited any of us to your place! Good thing I'm taping this. I'll only make half the copies I was planning on because this really is pretty shoddy acting."

"Was that really necessary?" Scott glared at Pietro.

"You're right it wasn't," Pietro sighed. Then he brightened. "It'll be on again tomorrow night at nine! And next Tuesday at seven and the week after that…"

"Oh my god!" Bobby shouted. "A Lifetime movie? My parents sold me out so they could make a **Lifetime **movie?"

"Bobby chill out," Sam told him.

"Don't tell me to chill out!" Bobby snapped. "**I'm **the one who tells people to chill out! I don't believe this!"

"Neither can I," Todd remarked. "That kid looks nothing like you."

"Yeah and that actor who's supposed to be Pyro or something blowing up the cop cars?" Fred scratched his head. "When did **that** happen?"

"Pyro and I are friends? What the hell kind of garbage is this?" Bobby shouted.

"Think how Pyro must feel," Todd told him. "He's not even Australian in this!"

"The writers are taking quite a few liberties with this story aren't they?" Arcade remarked.

"Well **Duh,** Arcade!" Bobby snapped.

"But they did get you being dumped by your folks right," Todd said. "And the fact you sometimes wear Spongebob Squarepants underwear."

"ONE TIME! JUST ONE TIME!" Bobby yelled.

"Gee Bobby I **really **feel sorry for you," Lance smirked. "Imagine, having your most **private secrets** blabbed in front of the **whole world!"**

"You are just loving this aren't you?" Scott glared at him.

"You bet I am!" Lance grinned as he ate more popcorn. Kitty hit him on the head. "OW! What? Like **I'm** supposed to feel sympathetic for **him?** Besides my secrets were way worse than his!"

"My parents can't handle my mutant powers but they have no problems making a quick buck off of them?" Bobby shouted. "Unbelievable!"

"Bobby it's Lifetime!" Sam told him. "Nobody is going to watch this unless they're over 30, female or gay and have no social life…I see your problem."

"I can't believe my life story is being shown on Lifetime…" Bobby looked shocked. _"Lifetime!"_

"Technically it's your mom's life story," Tabitha said. "I mean let's face it that network is a sucker for the story of any woman who's either a drunk, had a rotten husband or a troubled kid…I really should call my mother."

"Who knows?" Kitty said. "Maybe my family's private life will be next?"

"Nah yours is definitely E Channel material," Todd shook his head. "You know, because of Jesse D?"

"You're right," Kitty nodded. "That is better."

"Thanks a lot!" Bobby snapped. "My life is a Lifetime movie! I can't believe this!"

"I know," Fred shook his head. "If anything I thought it would be on the Sci Fi channel."

"Now that I think about it my life is perfect for a Lifetime movie," Tabitha thought aloud. "I definitely have to call my mother!"

Jean turned off the movie. "Hey!" Pietro protested. "I was watching that."

"What do you care? You're taping it anyway!" Jean snapped. "I think we all need a break from television. Maybe we should do something to get out of the house."

"Okay," Todd thought. "How about a movie?"

"Brilliant idea," Rogue rolled her eyes. "One problem, we're banned from the movie theaters."

"Only in Bayville and half the state of New York," Fred pointed out. "We could use our teleportation watches to go somewhere else."

"Yeah we went to this one movie theater in Massachusetts last week," Arcade said. "It was really nice. We saw a Dead Groom."

"I thought that Tim Burton Movie was called the Corpse Bride?" Kurt asked.

"No, we really saw a dead groom," Fred explained. "Well he wasn't really dead. You see it turned out he was hiding from one of his three fiancées he was supposed to marry on the same day and they all found out about it. You should have seen it when they tracked him down and…"

"We get the picture Blob," Scott interrupted him. "But maybe a movie is a good idea."

"What's a good idea?" Warren asked as he walked in.

"We're all going out to see a movie," Rogue got up with the others. "The Misfits are taking us out of state which tells you how desperate we are for a break."

"Bobby's movie is that bad?" Warren asked.

"You knew?" Bobby yelled.

"Come on Bobby," Jean put her hand on his shoulder. "Maybe we can find a nice movie with plenty of explosions to take your mind off your problems?"

"I hope so," Bobby grumbled. "You wanna come, Angel?"

"Nah I think I'll just watch TV here," Warren turned on the television again.

"Next month on Lifetime…" The announcer said. "Fallen Angels: The unauthorized biography of the Worthington Family."

"Oh for crying out loud!" Warren groaned. "Great! My father is really gonna love this! Guys wait up! I'm coming with you! You coming Tabitha?"

"Nah I'm on the phone with my mom," Tabitha indeed was on a cell phone. "Hey Mom! It's Tabby. Remember when you once told me that you wanted to be a Children's Book writer? How do you feel about scriptwriting?"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Okay let's all remember the basic rules," Scott spoke to the assembled group in the lobby. It was composed of Jean, Bobby, Rogue, Remy, Rina, Kitty, Kurt (Image inducer on), Peter, Amara, Jubilee, Dead Girl (Who also had an image inducer on.), Warren (hiding his wings under his coat), Althea, Todd, Lance, Fred, Angelica, Lina (Also having an image inducer on), Arcade, Shane, Wanda, Pietro and Xi. Xi had decided to go invisible, that way he would not only be able to watch the movie without scaring anyone, but he could get in for free.

"No powers…Except for Xi…" Scott sighed a sigh of resignation. "No fighting, no making out in the back row, no stealing food or toilet paper…Just stick together and **try** not to draw attention to yourselves."

"A little late for that," Lance pointed over Scott's shoulder. "Freddy's just hit the concession stands."

"I WANT MY JUNIOR MINTS!" Fred bellowed at the cowering clerk. "WHERE ARE MY JUNIOR MINTS?"

"I told my Dad he was playing too much Jimmy Buffett music in the house," Althea sighed. She looked around. "Where's Xi?"

"GHOST!" A few spooked people ran out of one of the projection rooms. "There's a ghost in there!"

A popcorn bucket casually floated out of the room and went next to the mutants. "Why are they so upset?" The invisible Xi asked.

"Bad movie," Wanda quipped.

"Bad idea," Rogue rolled her eyes. "Us being here that is."

"Well this is going to be a short visit," Scott groaned. "It's 8:45. Thanks to the Misfits we should be kicked out of here by nine."

"I wouldn't talk if I were you," Lance pointed again.

"Oh no," Scott was afraid to turn around. "**Who's **doing **what**, **now?"**

Jubilee, Rina and Amara quickly scooted back to the group from the arcade room. One of the machines was smoldering. An usher rushed in with a fire extinguisher. "Yeah I think that machine is defective!" Jubilee called out and whistled innocently.

"OH MY GOD!" The usher screamed. "HOW DID THAT PINBALL MACHINE MELT? AND HOW DID THAT GAME GET SLICED IN HALF? AND WHY IS THAT MACHINE SPARKING LIKE THAT?"

"Two questions…" Scott sighed as he looked at the girls.

"No one saw us and it was an accident," Jubilee said quickly. "Mostly…"

"Those buzzers and bells annoyed me," Rina grumbled.

"And you two freaked out when you saw her…?" Rogue didn't have to finish her sentence.

"Yeah…" Jubilee admitted.

"AND HOW DID THAT GAME END UP SMASHED INTO A WALL?" The usher whined.

"Okay that one we didn't do," Amara told them. "Believe it or not a few games were already smashed up when we got here."

"I don't believe it," Scott groaned.

"Scott its going to be fine," Jean told him as she looked around. "There's hardly anyone else here tonight and most of the staff is either stoned or drunk anyway."

"For once the decline of movie theaters and the increase of sales of DVDs works in our favor," Lance quipped.

"So which flick are we going to see?" Bobby asked. "I will see anything besides what's on TV tonight. And I do mean **anything."**

"Why are you asking me?" Scott asked.

"Didn't you purchase the tickets?" Jean asked him.

"I was busy making sure Gambit wasn't pick pocketing the other patrons," Scott told her.

"That was not necessary," Remy folded his arms.

"I dunno…"Todd whistled as he looked at a shiny watch. "Worked for me." Everyone glared at him. "Hey I have issues! Besides this came off a guy with a huge overcoat going into a Mary Kate and Ashley movie. And he wasn't wearing any pants."

"Ewww…" Kitty winced. "Well maybe people like **that **deserve to get ripped off."

"He paid for a MK and A movie," Shane looked at her. "That's a rip off on it's own!"

"Yeah and people who pay for those kind of movies **deserve** what they get!" Arcade added.

"Fine…." Scott decided it was best to give in. "So who **did** get the tickets?"

"I did!" Pietro waved. "Behold, Frog Monsters 7! Attack of Frog Babes!"

"Of course…" Scott sighed. "Typical. A movie filled with senseless explosions, pointless action and fighting and girls in bikinis fighting monsters."

"And you're complaining about this **why?"** Remy asked.

"Sorry," Scott shrugged. "I just got into a habit of disagreeing with anything the Misfits do and…OW! Jean!" Jean had slugged him in the shoulder.

"Don't worry Jean it's not a total loss," Dead Girl told her. "Orlando Bloom, Johnny Depp and about half dozen other male actors run around without their shirts in this. And in some cases without their pants."

"Oh well in that case," Jean shrugged and they went into the theater.

"Just what I wanted to see…" Bobby groaned. "What else can go wrong tonight?"

"**Never **say **those** words," Remy glared at him.

"Why?" Bobby asked.

"Because they have a habit of coming true," Remy remarked as they made their way to some seats. They settled down and were about to watch the movie when…

"You have **got** to be kidding me!" A familiar voice startled them. They looked up and saw Monet sneering at them. "It figures! The one night we have off and you morons have to show up!"

"Monet!" Rogue shouted. She saw Evan in his human form walk down with Yvonne on his arm. "Spike!"

"Rogue? What are **you **guys doing here?" Evan's jaw dropped.

"I could ask you the same question, Daniels!" Pietro got in his face.

"Gee Pietro, this is a movie theater," Evan looked at him. "What **else **would the Hellions be doing here? Getting Red Sox playoff tickets?"

"Slow isn't he?" Bevatron chuckled as he came down the aisle with Beef, Tarot, Catseye, Warpath, Roulette, and Jetstream.

"And I thought those dumb video games annoyed me," Warpath growled.

"I told you we didn't break **all **those machines," Amara gave Scott a look.

"You X-Men better get out of here while the getting's good," Evan warned.

"Hey! We have just as much right to be here as anyone!" Rogue stood up. "We got here first!"

"Hello! This is **Massachusetts!"** Roulette snapped. "Not New York, where you idiots live!"

"Yeah you punks are on **our** turf," Beef growled. "Go back to Baldy in Bayville!"

"If they wanna rumble I have **no** problems with it!" Warpath made a fist. "I still haven't paid you jokers back for what you did to my brother!"

"If you wish to fight…." Rina hissed extending her claws.

"Bring it on!" Bevatron charged up.

"Guys we can't fight here!" Jean told them.

"Yeah like we've never fought in a movie theater before," Bobby looked at her. "Besides I'm in the mood to bust some heads!"

"Why? Still mad at Mommy and Daddy for selling you out to Lifetime?" Warpath mocked.

"You know about that?" Bobby gasped.

"Hell, I'm Tivo-ing it," Evan grinned.

"I'm waiting for the DVD to come out," Bevatron grinned. "With all the bonus features."

"That's it!" Bobby growled. "We're having a throwdown! Right here! Right now!"

"That's the first good idea you've ever had!" Pietro agreed.

"Oh you are so going to regret ruining our night out…" Monet prepared to fight.

But before anything could happen, all of them were engulfed in a huge ball of pink light. "What the freaking hell was that?" Shane shouted. He looked down at himself. "MY GOD! I'VE TURNED WHITE?"

"No…" Arcade looked at him. "You're in my body…" He realized he was in Shane's body. "And I'm a brother! Cool!"

"What?" Shane yelled. "But…But…How?"

"Switch!" Evan growled. He was in Pietro's body. "You gotta be kidding me!"

"I'm not exactly thrilled about this either Evan!" Pietro snapped. He in turn was in Evan's body.

"I'm alive!" Dead Girl looked at her arms, which were really Warpath's arms. "I'm alive!"

"I am so going to kill you people," Warpath glared at her. He was in her body. "But not before I kill Switch!"

"Hahahahahahaaaa!" Above them was Switch laughing at them. "And to think I thought I was going to be so bored tonight!"

"Switch change us back!" Jean shouted. She then realized that she was in Fred's body. "OH GOD NO!"

"I'm so thin and pretty!" Fred giggled. He was in Jean's body and hugged himself. "And I have such pretty hair!"

"Keep your hands to yourself! Or myself!" Jean snapped at him.

"Oh my…" Fred was suddenly hit with a dozen emotions. "So many people…Thinking all at once…"

"Yeah that must really be an alien experience for you," Rogue grumbled. She was in Scott's body. "Do I wanna know where you are Swamp Rat?"

"Right here," Remy was in Lance's body. "Well at least we can…"

"Don't even **think** about it!" Both Scott and Lance shouted. Scott was in Rogue's body and Lance was in Remy's body.

"All those in favor of hunting Switch down…" Althea who was in Todd's body called out.

"GET HER!" Most of the teams ran out.

"Meanwhile…" Althea grinned. "I think I'll run off to the men's room!"

"Oh no you don't!" Todd grabbed 'his' arm. He was in Althea's body.

"Hey it's not like you don't have license to check me out!" Althea groaned.

"Oh well in that case…" Todd looked around. "Maybe a quick peek in the bathroom wouldn't hurt…" The two of them scampered off. The only remaining two were Bobby and Angelica.

"Of course we would be in these bodies…" Angelica hugged Bobby's body that she inhabited. "I **hate **the cold!"

"Oh no…" Bobby looked down and found himself in Angelica's body. "Not again! It's official, this is one of the top ten worst days of my life."

"Well what have we here?" He heard a familiar voice behind him. Bobby looked and saw Pyro grinning at him. "Hello Firestar baby!"

"Make that the top five…" Bobby groaned.


	84. What A Really Freaky Friday

**What A Really Freaky Friday**

"Hello Gorgeous!" Pyro grinned as he shimmied up to Bobby in Angelica's body.

"It's official, I'm in hell…" Bobby groaned. "Pyro why are you here?"

"Thought I'd get out of the Acolyte's base for a bit," Pyro waved. "Well actually Magneto thought I'd better get out of the Acolyte's base for a bit. He was a bit miffed about the incident with Polaris, a few flame-throwers, her bra drawer…"

"I get the picture…" Bobby winced.

"Plus anything's better than watching TV tonight," Pyro groaned. "Do you know they have the worst movie playing twice on Lifetime tonight? Get this, it's all about Iceman!"

"I'm aware of it…" Bobby said dryly.

Pyro looked at Angelica, who he thought was Bobby. "You know the actor playing you doesn't look anything like you," He said.

"I'd be very much surprised if he did," Angelica smirked.

"So how about you and me have a little fun?" Pyro raised an eyebrow.

"Look as much as I'd love to make out with a homicidal maniac…" Bobby backed away. He tripped and accidentally let out a fireball, which hit a seat and set it on fire.

"Oh yeah! Burn down the place! My kind of woman!" Pyro shouted with glee.

"Oh no!" Angelica focused and put out the fire with Bobby's ice powers. "Hey, the ice powers work the same way my fire…Uh I mean…"

"Fire powers?" Pyro looked at him. "What are you talking about Drake? You don't have fire powers? Do you?"

"Look Pyro the truth is…" Bobby began.

"Yeah sweetie?" Pyro grinned.

"The truth is she's not interested in you!" Angelica told him.

"Yeah, yeah what he said…" Bobby gulped.

Angelica could see that Pyro wasn't going to leave. Then she got an idea in her head. "But I am."

"But he…WHAT?" Bobby did a double take.

"Well I gotta admit the whole fire and ice thing is kind of cute," Angelica vamped it up. She leaned towards a startled Pyro. "So how about you and me making some kind of cold fire?"

"Oh no!" Pyro backed up. "I'm flattered…Maybe even a little curious but I don't swing that way! See ya around Firestar!" He fled the room.

"Yup I thought that would do it," Angelica nodded.

"WHAT DID YOU DO **THAT **FOR?" Bobby yelled at Angelica.

"You wanted to get rid of him," She shrugged.

"NOT LIKE THAT!" Bobby shouted. "Great! Now he thinks I'm totally gay!"

"That's the thanks I get fighting for **your** honor," She folded her…Well Bobby's arms.

"My honor, my butt!" Bobby snapped. "Fine! Two can play this game! Oh Pyro!"

"You wouldn't **dare!"** Angelica snarled.

"Try and stop me!" Bobby snapped back as he ran after Pyro.

"You bet I will!" Angelica chased after him.

Meanwhile the search for Switch in the movie theater was not going well. "I swear you two perverts are impossible…" Scott in Rogue's body dragged out Todd and Althea from the ladies' room. They were in each other's respective bodies.

"Technically it's not fooling around," Althea tried to get out of the grip Scott had her in.

"You want me to use this body to knock you **both **out?" Scott snapped. "I'll do it!"

"You really want **our **thoughts in **your** head?" Todd asked.

"You have a point," Scott groaned. "Jean! Jean come on!"

"In a minute Scott," Jean called out. She was in Fred's body and currently she was at the snack bar. "I just have this craving for popcorn, Junior Mints and M&Ms!"

"Yo!" Arcade was enjoying being in Shane's body. "Whazzup bro?" He waved to a few African American youths walking by. "Man some of you honeys is fine!"

"Will you stop that?" Shane snapped. He was not happy being in Arcade's body. "YOU ARE **NOT** BLACK!" The African American youths stared at him. "This guy is not Black! Pay no attention to the white boy here!"

"Yo bro don't be hatin'," Arcade drawled. "It's a'ight. Just cause you're a honky…"

"I am not a honky! Nobody even **says** honky anymore! Will you **stop **talking like that?" Shane got in his face. "You are not black! You are a geek! A **white** geek! Go back to talking geek! And…God how do you see?" He took off the glasses. "Damn this is even worse! I feel like Mr. Magoo!"

One of the guys turned to his girlfriend. "Great, just what we need. A couple of nuts on drugs."

"I dunno. They sound more entertaining than the movie we just watched," His girlfriend remarked as the youths hurried away.

"Not going well is it?" Rogue asked. She was in Scott's body.

"Not really no," Scott groaned as he realized Todd and Althea slipped away in the confusion.

BOOM! FIZZLE!

"Watch where you're aiming those things!" Someone shouted.

"Well I'm not used to these powers! Sue me!"

BOOM!

"I think somebody will after tonight."

"HAHAHAHAHAHAA!"

"SWITCH YOU ARE SO DEAD!"

"GET HER!"

BOOM!

"Sorry! My bad!"

WHUMP! Evan in Pietro's body ran straight into a wall.

"Ow…" He groaned. "You know, controlling these legs is harder than it looks."

"I think I'm getting the hang of these spikes…" Pietro said. He was in Evan's body. A spike flew past Scott, barely missing him and hitting the wall. "Whoops!"

"WATCH IT!" Scott snapped.

"I just had a thought," Rogue said. "Who's in Celandine's body?"

"Yeah she could kill someone without even trying," Lance realized.

"Catseye," Dead Girl told her. She was in Warpath's body. "But it's okay. Before she could do any damage a piece of plaster fell from the ceiling and knocked her out."

"Remy said he was sorry!" Remy snapped. The building shook for a moment. "Man this is harder than it looks. No wonder Avalanche always makes such a mess!"

"Well at least we know with **you **in **his **body Rogue won't make out with you," Scott remarked.

"Oh yeah?" Rogue grinned. Before anyone could stop her she grabbed Remy in Lance's body and kissed him long and hard.

**"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"** Both Lance and Scott screamed in agony.

"Come on Remy, let's go make out somewhere!" Rogue grabbed Remy and they ran off.

"NOT IF I STOP YOU FIRST!" Scott shouted as he flew after them. However he didn't quite have the hang of flying just yet. "WHOA!" He flew straight ahead into a wall.

"Oh he is definitely going to have to pay for that," Lance blinked.

Meanwhile Warpath stuck in Dead Girl's body had separated from the group and was wandering in an empty theater. "Man it's so weird being dead." He grumbled.

"Tell me about it."

"What the hell…?" Warpath gasped. "John?"

"Hey Little Brother," John Proudstar's ghostly form stood before him. "Looks like you've got yourself into a bigger mess than usual."

"You…You're…?"

"Dead? Yeah thanks for noticing. Nice funeral by the way."

"But how?"

"Uh, you're in Dead Girl's body? Remember her powers? She can talk to the dead. You really should listen to those mission briefings! Listen to me," John told him. "This isn't what I wanted for you. You have to get away from the Hellions."

"Why? I did it for you! I swore vengeance after the X-Men killed you!"

"The X-Men didn't kill me! Well technically I guess Colossus did but the real blame goes to that nut job Proteus," John explained. "He possessed me and was eating my insides out. He would have killed my friends and thousands more people if the X-Men hadn't done what they did!"

"No! No they hurt you!" John denied it. "They're the ones responsible!"

"You're the one who's been hurting me," John said sadly. "I can't rest until I know you're going to be okay. And won't be as long as you're with the Hellions!"

"GET HER!"

"THIS WAY! SHE RAN IN HERE!" Several other mutants ran in looking for Switch.

BOOM!

"Sorry! My bad!"

POW!

"Why didn't I stay home?"

BOOM!

FIZZLE!

"OW MY TAIL! Well, it's not really my tail but still…"

"WHO SET THOSE SEATS ON FIRE?"

"Fire? Where?" Pyro burst in. "Cool! Let's burn the place down!"

"On the other hand," John remarked. "Looks like the X-Men and Misfits ain't exactly the safest group of people to be around either."

"Oh guys!" Switch laughed as she appeared, using her powers again. "Think fast!"

"Here we go again!" Scott shouted as the pink ball engulfed all of them.

Meanwhile Bobby and Angelica were still chasing each other around the other movie theaters. Bobby was determined to get Angelica back. He finally saw Pyro walking in a daze towards the lobby. "Hey lover boy!" Bobby grabbed Pyro and kissed him. "HA!"

"Is this some kind of weird payback against Angelica?" Pyro asked.

"Yeah…Wait, how did you know, Pyro?" Bobby asked.

'Pyro' looked at Bobby. "One problem…I'm **not **Pyro!"

"This really has been quite a peculiar little trip," Kitty walked up to them speaking with an Australian accent. "Even more so than usual."

"What the…?" Bobby looked at the two of them. "Pyro if you're in Kitty's body, then who's…?"

"It's Jean, Bobby," She sighed. "We all had another run in with Switch back at one of the other theaters."

"Sorry," Bobby apologized. "I thought you were Pyro."

"Oh so that's how it is," Pyro glared at Bobby. "First you come on to me in front of Angelica and when that fails you take over her body in order to get to me! You sicko!"

"Now wait a minute…" Bobby protested.

"You sir are quite disturbed!" Pyro huffed. "I don't swing that way and even if I did I still wouldn't go for you! I'm too much of a man for a creep like you!" Pyro caught 'his' reflection in a reflective surface. "Oh damn, my lipstick's faded!"

"Okay this totally sucks!" Kitty stormed in. She was in Arcade's body. "Pyro, you'd better not do anything to my body or else!"

"Oh yeah…?" Pyro had a wicked gleam in his eyes. "How about I do **this?"** He started to unbutton the blouse Kitty was wearing.

"What are you doing?" Kitty warned. "Hey! Stop it! Stop it!"

"Hello sailor!" Pyro threw off the blouse, exposing the bra. He reached for the zipper on the pants. "These pants are a little tight too…"

"You wouldn't!" Kitty shrieked.

"Oh wouldn't I?" Pyro grinned. "I wonder…"

"Oh god no…" Jean winced.

"Don't! Don't you dare!" Kitty screamed. "I'm warning you Pyro!" She lunged at him.

Pyro used her powers to phase away from her grip and in a moment he phased out of her remaining garments as well. "Whoo! What a power!" Pyro looked at the state he was in. "You don't have much of a rack do you Pryde?"

"PUT MY CLOTHES BACK ON YOU PERVERT!" Kitty screamed.

"I'm free! I'm free!" Pyro happily ran through a wall into the next room. Which happened to be a crowded theater room.

"It's official," Bobby groaned. "Somebody up there hates not only me but Kitty."

"I wonder why?" Jean asked. "I mean its not like you and Kitty kissed each other or anything."

"Thanks a lot!" Bobby glared at her.

Meanwhile other mutants were still trying to adjust to their other new bodies.

"This is so wrong…" Scott sighed. He was now in Lina's body.

"Tell me about it," Lance sighed. He was in Xi's body. "Man do I feel weird."

"How does it…Feel?" Scott asked. "You know? Not having well, **anything."**

"Like I'm missing a **lot **of things compared to what I had before," Lance groaned. "Xi doesn't even have nipples."

"Among other things," Scott winced. "I wonder how he goes to the bathroom?"

"I really don't want to find out," Lance said. Just then Remy ran up to them, still in Lance's body. "Speaking of things I don't want to find out about…"

"Okay…" Remy panted. "Who are you people? I mean who is inhabiting these bodies?"

"Take wild guess you body stealing jerk!" Lance snapped.

"What, you needed to take a break making our worst nightmares come true?" Scott snapped.

"Oh Scott and Lance," Remy breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness it's you. Remy had to get out of there! You have no idea how close Remy came to…You don't wanna know…"

"You didn't…" Scott growled.

"No! Remy couldn't! Remy had to get away," Remy shuddered. "Just couldn't do it. It felt so…dirty. And not in a good way."

"I guess even you have your standards," Lance remarked.

"Tell me about it," Remy shuddered some more. "Remy gonna have nightmares for months about Cyclops kissing him and trying to…"

"STOP! I DON'T WANNA KNOW!" Scott snapped at him.

"ME NEITHER!" Lance shouted. "This night cannot get any worse!"

"LALALALALAA!" A very naked Kitty skipped by them laughing. She phased into another room without stopping.

"Was that Kitty…?" Lance blinked.

"Uh huh…" Remy was in shock.

"And was she…?" Lance's eyes widened.

"Streaking? Yes!" Scott's mouth was wide open.

"PYRO GET BACK HERE AND PUT MY CLOTHES ON YOU JERK!" Kitty raced after her body, carrying her clothes. "OH MY GOD I AM LIKE NEVER GOING TO LEAVE THE HOUSE AGAIN!"

"Pyro?" Scott yelled. "Pyro is **here?"**

"And he's streaking in Kitty's body," Lance noticed. "OH MY GOD! KITTY! WAIT! PYRO YOU NUTCASE!" He took off after them.

"This is so not good," Scott groaned. Then he heard the sound of sirens. "And neither is that. I can't wait to explain this to the cops!"

"No, but you do have to explain this to us!"

Suddenly time seemed to freeze. Everyone who wasn't a mutant (Or Arcade) instantly froze in time. "Now what?" Lance asked looking around.

"SWITCH!" Emma Frost roared as she and Xavier entered the lobby.

"Uh oh," Switch gulped as she peered behind the popcorn stand.

"Yes uh oh," Emma folded her arms.

"What are you doing here?" Lance asked.

"We picked up quite a lot of activity on Cerebro," Xavier explained. "And now I see why."

"We really must stop meeting like this," Emma said. "Pyro for god's sake put Kitty's clothes back on! I really don't feel like going blind right now!"

"I suggest we leave before the mental suggestion we are giving to the patrons of this establishment wear off," Xavier raised an eyebrow. "But first let's put out some of the fires shall we?"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"So much for a nice quiet evening away from insanity…" Scott sighed. The X-Men and Misfits had returned to the Institute and were finally in their own bodies.

"Remy need therapy…" Remy was twitching.

"Oh get over it!" Rogue snapped. "If we were both in **girls** bodies I'd bet you'd have done it!"

"Thank you Rogue for giving me **another **mental image that will keep me awake at night for weeks," Wanda rubbed her forehead.

"When you kids go out on the town you really know how to tear it up don't you?" Logan grunted as he walked up to them.

"Did you dump Pyro's body off by the side of the highway in the gutter where it belongs?" Kitty growled.

"You mean did I let the little twerp go?" Logan asked. "Yes I think it was the least I could do after what you did to him Half Pint."

"I was totally justified Logan," Kitty glared at him. "I should have killed him! No jury would have convicted me!"

"What did you do to him?" Scott asked. "I blacked out after you inflicted the mind numbing pain on him."

"Before or after I stripped him and beat him up?" Kitty asked.

"After," Scott said. "Even unconscious I could still hear the screams."

"Let's just say you'd need to be older than 21 to know about it," Logan sighed. He patted Bobby's shoulder. "Some night huh Popsicle?"

"Oh yeah," Bobby groaned. "First my parents trash me in a Lifetime movie, then we trash a movie theater with the Hellions. I got stuck in a girl's body…Firestar's body, which was **too **hot a time for me. And on top if it all Pyro thinks I have the hots for him!"

"What?" Logan looked at him. "Why does…?"

"Don't ask…" Bobby gritted his teeth. "Just **don'**t ask…"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAAHA!" Emma ran by laughing.

"COME BACK HERE!" Scott was chasing her.

"**Now **what?" Logan asked.

"Come on you," Shipwreck dragged Switch by the ear. Polly was on his shoulder. "You're gonna fix this!"

"OW! Can't you take a joke?" Switch whined.

"Some joke! Get my parrot out of Frost's body!" Shipwreck snapped.

"Okay Switch I am officially going to kill you," Emma glared at her. She was in Polly's body.

"That's it," Bobby groaned. "I think I'm going into my room and not coming out until I graduate from this loony bin!"


	85. A Powderkeg Ready To Explode

**A Powder Keg Ready to Explode**

"This is Trish Tilby reporting live from Washington DC where another outbreak of mutant violence erupted. Ironically the cause of this violence was a reported scuffle between the X-Men and the Misfits, two mutant groups that advocate peace with humans. The fight broke out in the Congressional Cafeteria just before Professor Charles Xavier, the founder of the Xavier Institute was to speak with several key members of the Senate on mutant tolerance. The cause of the fight is still under investigation but authorities are claiming it was an accident. Needless to say that meeting between the Senators and Professor Xavier was cancelled until further notice."

A shot of a large portly senator was shown. "If these mutants are examples of peaceful mutants, I'd hate to meet up with those that plain hate our guts!" He snarled. He was covered in eggs and tater tots.

Trish was shown again. "Valerie Cooper the Head of the Mutant Affairs Department, called this incident a childish demonstration of…"

Xavier turned off the monitor and glared at Scott and Lance. Several of the X-Men and Misfits were in the room as well. "Well…" Xavier said in a very angry tone. "I hope you two are happy. Thanks to you, not only was this very important meeting cancelled, but also the wave of anti-mutant sentiment is even stronger than ever. I don't need to remind you how important this was to us. Not only was this meeting supposed to establish a dialogue with several key lawmakers on Capitol Hill, it was also a fact finding investigation to see if any of them knew anything about this Neverland that we're supposed to find."

"You remember **that?"** Roadblock asked. "The one with the big boom that will supposedly spell all our doom?"

"To say I'm disappointed in the both of you is an understatement," Xavier's tone was harsh. "I know the two of you have your differences but I was under the impression that you were mature enough not to have a brawl in broad daylight on Capitol Hill!"

"It wasn't really a brawl," Lance shrugged. "Just a disagreement that got a little out of hand."

"A **little** out of hand?" Scott whirled on you. "Thanks to you, the entire building is going to need a new foundation!"

**"Me?"** Lance turned on him. "I'm **not **the one who blasted apart a chandelier and put a huge hole in the roof!"

"No, but you are the one that made me do that by causing the fight!" Scott snapped. He turned to the X-Men. "Tell him guys! You were there!"

Lance turned to the Misfits. "Yeah guys tell them all how Summers started the whole thing for no reason!"

"I did **not!"** Scott shouted.

"Scott as much as I hate to admit it," Jean glared at him. "This time it was all **your **fault!"

"Hell no, it was Avalanche's fault!" Wanda snapped. "He overreacted!"

"I'd over react too if I was threatened!" Angelica snapped. "Wanda how could you say that?"

"Because she knows it's true!" Rogue snapped.

"It is **not **true," Remy told her. "Cyclops is just too uptight!"

"Of course **you'd** agree with Lance," Lina sniffed. 

"Big shock!" Scott snapped. "Thieves always stick together!"

"I'd rather be a thief than a total nutcase!" Lance snapped.

"Too bad you're **both!"** Scott retorted.

"He has a medical condition and you know it!" Kitty stood up and put her hands on her hips.

"Oh shut up Kitty!" Althea snapped. "Like you really care!"

"Don't tell me to shut up!" Kitty shouted back. "And I do care!"

"Yeah right!" Althea snorted.

"Kitty does not lie!" Peter stood up for her.

"Wanna bet?" Angelica glared at him.

"ENOUGH!" Xavier shouted. Everyone stopped. "I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANY MORE BICKERING! IS THAT CLEAR?"

"So much for unity between the Misfits and the X-Men," Pietro groaned. "We can't even agree among our own teams who was at fault!"

"It's clear who was at fault!" Scott said.

"Yeah!" Lance replied.

"**He **was!" Both Scott and Lance pointed at each other at the same time.

"You know we **do** have the tape from the security cameras showing what happened?" Cover Girl asked.

"Yes and they will show that Alvers used his powers on me for no reason!" Scott said. "He just used them to move the ground and shove me into the wall!"

"Was this before or **after** you threatened Lance with a knife, Scott?" Jean folded her arms.

"For the last time I was **not** threatening him!" Scott snapped.

Roadblock casually turned on the monitor again. On it was Scott waving the knife while shouting at Lance. "PUT IT BACK OR I'LL MAKE SURE YOU NEVER TAKE ANYTHING AGAIN EVER!" Scott shouted on TV. "YOU HEAR ME SHAKEDOWN?"

"Okay maybe **technically** that was a threat…" Scott was clearly embarrassed.

Roadblock turned it off and looked at Scott. "Would you like me to tell what Lance took that set you off in the first place? Or would you further like to plead your case?"

"I wouldn't if I were you," Althea remarked. "Since your mouth is working for the prosecution!"

"Wavedancer…" Xavier warned. He looked at Scott. "Well what did he do?"

Scott looked embarrassed but refused to come straight out with it. "Alvers was being rude. The guy has no table manners whatsoever!"

"He saw me take a couple of tater tots off of some guy's plate," Lance explained.

"Excuse me?" Logan blinked. "Tater tots?"

"Yeah you know, those things made up of potatoes and fried up and…" Todd began.

"I **know** what tater tots are, Toad!" Logan snapped. He looked at Lance then Scott. "**You **got mad at **him**, for taking someone else's **tater tots?"**

"He was stealing!" Scott snapped.

"I was trying not to waste food!" Lance snapped. "Look they were out of tater tots up front and I really felt like having some. So I walk by this guy's table and I see a whole pile of tater tots on this guy's plate. Only he ain't eating them! He's making out with this blond chick who looks like he's paying her for more than her typing if you get my drift. Well I figured they were too busy to notice so I…"

"And so you took some off of **his **plate and put it on **yours,"** Roadblock made the connection. "And Scott saw you."

"See! See he admits what he did!" Scott pointed.

"I didn't take **all **of them!" Lance snapped. "And then Summers gets all on my case for not even ten stupid tater tots and I told him I wasn't going to put them back and for him to mind his own business! The next thing I know **he's** waving a knife in my face!"

"I wasn't really going to use it on you!" Scott snapped. "I was just waving it around for dramatic effect!"

"Oh it had a dramatic effect all right," Pietro groaned.

"And that's when you used your powers to shove Cyclops away…" Logan groaned.

"He had a knife! I was defending myself!" Lance shouted.

"When he pushed me back my glasses got loose and…" Scott tried to explain.

"Yes, yes we all know what happened from that point onwards…" Xavier held up his hand. He looked at Scott. "Tater tots? You got into a fight with Lance…Over **tater tots?"**

"Well…" Scott fidgeted.

"We have just lost some very important ground not only in our fight for mutant rights, but how the public perceives us," Xavier was getting angrier. "And any claim that the Institute can help mutants control their powers has been completely shattered on national television! Not to mention the harsh reprimand I got from Valerie Cooper…And you did all this over **tater tots!" **

"Told you it wasn't my fault," Lance snorted.

Roadblock glared at him. "You just **had **to have the tater tots, didn't you? Even though they didn't belong to you?"

"Well…" Lance began.

"You just had to grab them to satisfy yourself?" Roadblock added. "You just had to act like an animal and eat whatever you saw in front of you? Isn't that true?"

"And of course you **had **to go correct him, didn't you Slim?" Logan glared at Scott. "Even though it wasn't any of your business was it?"

"Uh…" Scott gulped.

"The two of you are just lucky that Ms. Cooper has decided let this go," Xavier added. "Of course I had to make certain promises…"

"Let's just say we owe her a few favors," Logan grunted. "And you know she's not going to be shy about cashing them in!"

"But it still doesn't do anything for publicity problems," Ororo reminded them. "The call for mutant registration and containment has been increased and more people are listening!"

"We've even had a complaint from some Senator from Idaho who for some reason thinks the X-Men are anti-potato!" Logan snapped.

"Great," Pietro mocked. "Mutants are gonna get it because Lance had a tater tot craving and Summers couldn't deal with it!"

"I really like tater tots…" Lance said weakly as he shrunk in his seat.

"Good," Roadblock told him. "Because you are going to be peeling potatoes for the next **forty years!"**

"And **you **are going to be assisting him!" Logan whirled on Scott.

"With those two in the same room, we'll all have a lifetime supply of mashed potatoes," Pietro quipped.

"I'd like all of you to leave and do some serious thinking, right now!" Xavier ordered. The Misfits and X-Men filed out.

"What are we going to do now?" Cover Girl asked.

"Perhaps the only thing we can do is to keep our teams separate," Xavier sighed. "Forbid the Misfits from teleporting to the Xavier Institute and making the X-Men not have any contact with them."

"You don't mean that," Cover Girl looked at him.

"Cover Girl look at the evidence!" Xavier told her. "The Misfits and the X-Men can't even sit down to **breakfast** together without having a fight and making the news! All this time we've been trying to bring our two groups together and what has it gotten us? Lawsuits, property damage, negative publicity…"

"Drunken brawls,"Hank added. He glared at Shipwreck. "Among other things..."

"Hank for the fiftieth time I'm the one who seduced him!" Ororo snapped. "As much as I'd love to blame the whole sortid incident on Shipwreck, I started it! And Shipwreck being Shipwreck just responded like any dog you would throw a bone at."

"You were drunk," Hank glared at her.

"You were all drunk!" Logan told him. "Do you want to see the replay video of what you did that night? That rosebush is never going to be the same again!"

"We both got drunk of our own accord, and what happened was a mistake we both made!" Ororo threw up her hands. "It will never happen again so can we please forget it!"

"That's right," Shipwreck nodded. "Actually since she's the one who tied me up technically..."

"If you ever want to breathe again, you will stop that sentence and move on," Ororo glared at him.

"Okay maybe we've had a few setbacks…" Shipwreck said deciding to do what he was told. "Okay a lot of setbacks but that's no reason to throw in the towel! Ain't you always saying that humans and mutants should learn to work together?"

"Maybe some mutants and humans **shouldn't** work together?" Xavier sighed. Suddenly an alarm sounded.

"What's that?" Roadblock asked.

"Cerebro's alarm system," Xavier's eyes narrowed. "I programmed it to alert us if there was an instance of an instance of mutants using their powers in large numbers."

"Or if Dorian Leech was found," Ororo added.

Quickly they made their way to Cerebro. "Man this thing is lit up like a Christmas tree," Roadblock whistled. "What is it Xavier? What do you see?"

"Oh no…" Xavier scanned with Cerebro. "This could **not** have come at a worse time…"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

And what was it that Cerebro had picked up?

"Our power grid has gone out!" Solitaire was trying to work the machines in the Vault. Several Morlocks had noticed the power was gone. One Morlock was able to generate a glowing ball of light to illuminate the room.

"It wasn't me!" Dorian yelled. "I didn't do it!"

"We know," Solitaire told him. "Somehow the power grids got shut off!"

"Which means the shields that disguise our mutant signatures has just been shut down as well," Postman said. "This is not good!" The sounds of gunfire could be heard. "What was that?"

"The GRSO," Eve shouted as she ran in. "They've found us!"

**Next, you guessed it: A big old battle with lots of surprises! **


	86. The Morlocks Strike Back

**The Morlocks Strike Back**

In a large van that served as a portable command center General Kincaid was overseeing the operations. "We got 'em," He grinned. "Trapped like the rats they are. I tell you Major, it was a lucky break we were able to find those old city blueprints as well as those files on Cobra."

"Lucky break nothing," Kincaid's underling grunted. "If I hadn't remembered there used to be a major Cobra operation in this area years ago we'd still be looking. It wasn't easy getting those classified files."

"It'll be worth it after tonight," Kincaid grinned. "After months of searching not only will we get the Leech boy, we'll wipe out an entire nest of mutants. Operation Rat Catcher will be a success. Especially after we figured out how to cut off the power to their generators."

"But sir we accidentally cut power to several blocks," One officer said. "There are blackout conditions in less than a quarter of the city."

"Are any hospitals without power? Firehouses? Police stations?" Kincaid asked.

"No but…"

"And we can easily restore power once we've taken care of the mutants right?"

"Well within a few hours yes, but…"

"So a few people miss an episode of 'The Amazing Race'?" Kincaid snarled. "Small price to pay for solving the city's mutant problem! This is **war **soldier! We have to expect a few casualties! Tell Team Alpha to keep advancing! Remember, we want the Leech boy **alive!** And if you can get at least ten other captives that would be perfect for Dr. Winson's needs. Exterminate the rest!"

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"Where are they?" Solitaire asked Eve.

"Breached the first tunnels already," She told him. "I barely got away myself. They killed Zipper and Flame."

"I can't sense anything," One mutant who was a telepath said. "They must have some kind of shielding in place."

"If we could get power back to the generators long enough we could shut the emergency defenses on 'em," Cell said.

"Patch, Postman, and you Slicer! Take the children to the lower stronghold along with Mrs. Leech," Solitaire ordered. "That door can only be opened manually. Shut the door and don't let anyone in unless it's us! Those doors should hold but if somehow we fail and they **do** break in…"

"Then they'll wish they hadn't," Slicer, a large gray mutant with large bone blades on his arms and talons growled. The mutants readied for battle. They didn't have to wait long.

The soldiers burst in with guns blazing. But the mutants were ready to fight for their lives. Some mutants were able to put up a telekinetic shield in time to protect many of the Morlocks from the gunfire. Other Morlocks who were impervious to the gunfire used their claws or whatever else they had on the attackers.

The soldiers had not come unprepared. One of them used a sonic attack machine that brought many of the Morlocks to their knees. However, one of the Morlocks, a purple skinned mutant was deaf and used his powers to destroy the weapon. But not without getting killed by a hail of gunfire.

"DIE HUMANS!" Eve shouted as she electrocuted several soldiers. However they were wearing some kind of protective covering on their uniforms so they were not killed. But they were severely stunned.

Stunned long enough for Solitaire and other mutants to cut them down. "We need those generators online!" He roared. "Eve! Jitters! Follow me! The rest of you hold your positions!"

Eve and a mutant with five arms followed him deeper into the bowels. Solitaire was able to see due to his natural senses and Eve's glow. "This way!" He pointed. "Okay Eve! Do it!"

"One charge coming up!" She used her powers to restart the engines.

Jitters ran towards the machine and stared to work on it. "It's working! Systems will be back online any second!"

"Good! Shut the blast doors!" Solitaire ordered.

Soon a series of large doors came out of the walls near the fighting. The Morlocks were able to scramble back and several soldiers followed. To their horror they realized that they were soon cut off from the rest of their unit and trapped as the blast doors shut behind them. Several Morlocks grabbed weapons from the dead soldiers and started to use them against their pursuers. It wasn't long before all the soldiers that had followed the Morlocks were dead.

"How many you think are outside?" Eve asked.

"Enough to send reinforcements," Solitaire looked around. "How many casualties?"

"Five," One mutant with large teeth and a horn told him. "Blank, Rope, Leia, Bookworm…"

"And Silence…" Solitaire looked sadly at the purple mutant's body.

"At the very least we shut 'em out," Cell grumbled. "For now anyway."

"Yeah but we're stuck in the Vault," Eve grumbled.

"Not quite," Solitaire took a communicator from a dead soldier. "Broadband?"

"Yeah ready to go, Boss," Broadband, a large mutant with a pig like snout grinned and hefted up a huge ax.

"I want in on this party too," Eve told Solitaire.

"I can take two more people," Broadband told Solitaire.

"Litterbug," Solitaire turned to the huge green mutant that resembled something from Alien. Then he turned around. "Cell…We're going to pay the humans a visit. But first let's deal with those on our doorstep."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Team Alpha! Team Alpha! Can you hear me?" General Kincaid shouted into the comm. system. "Damnit Team Alpha respond!"

"Sir! More than half the team has been cut off!" One soldier shouted. "There's some kind of doors blocking our way. Somehow they turned on the generator and…"

A strange crackling could be heard. "NO! NOOOOOOOOOOO!" A horrified scream and gunfire could be heard over the intercom. Then all was quiet.

"Team Alpha! Do you read me? Team Alpha! Do you copy! Report! Team Alpha!"

The system crackled to life. Suddenly it began to spark. "What the hell is going on!" Kincaid shouted as it began to vibrate. "Team Alpha!"

Suddenly a big flash of light shot out of the communications. Kincaid's eyes widened when five mutants, some of them the most hideous creatures he had ever seen appeared in his van. "ATTACK!" Solitaire shouted.

Before Kincaid could blink a woman with white hair electrocuted two of his men. The other mutants tore into his men. One sliced off his trusted major's head with an ax. "You god damned…" He pulled out his weapon only to have it knocked out of his hand by the lead mutant, a scaled monstrosity with gold reptilian eyes and strange gold markings on his green face.

Solitaire threw Kincaid to the side of the wall as the other mutants tore into his men. "You are the leader…" Solitaire hissed. "Listen well human, I will leave **you **alive for only this… To relay a message to all those who hunt us…LEAVE US ALONE!"

The next thing Kincaid knew he was being thrown out of the truck. Solitaire stepped out and stood over him. "Tell your men to pull back or…"

He was interrupted by some kind of sound. Solitaire looked and saw several mutants running towards him. "Step away from the general," He was knocked down by an incredibly fast mutant. "Even if he is a jerk!"

Solitaire flipped onto his feet again instantly. He glared at the X-Men and Misfit teams attacking. Then Solitaire saw something that made him gasp in shock.

"One…" Xi blinked. "One…is that you?"

Solitaire made no reply. "Solitaire we gotta go!" Litterbug roared. Solitaire ran off into the truck. Broadband used his powers to transport the five Morlocks through the communications systems.

"ONE!" Xi shouted trying to chase after them, but could not get to them in time. "ONE!"

"God damned freaks!" Kincade snarled. "What the freaking hell are you doing here?"

"You're welcome," Althea said sarcastically. "We can ask you the same question."

"I'm under orders to contain the mutant menace in this city!" Kincaid snarled.

"By causing a blackout?" Roadblock asked.

"This is war soldier!" Kincaid told him. "And what the hell are you and your rejects doing here? This is my operation!" He looked at his truck. "What's left of it anyway."

"Oh my god…" Kitty gasped as she looked inside the truck. "It's like a bloodbath in there!"

"Big surprise! Those monsters killed all my men!" Kincaid pointed at Xi. "And their leader looked just like **that!"**

"That was One…" Xi said. "I'm sure of it…"

"Who's One?" Logan asked.

"He's…My brother," Xi told them.


	87. And The Battle Rages On

**And The Battle Rages On**

"BROTHER?" Todd's jaw dropped.

"Did he just say **brother?"** Scott was also surprised.

"Technically we have no gender but I suppose that is what he is to me," Xi explained.

"Well your **brother** and his friends killed my men!" Kincaid snarled.

"Gee I wonder **why?"** Lance growled.

"Listen **mutant,"** Kincaid said the last word as if it was poison. "I was sent to control the mutant situation in Chicago and that is what I intend to do. My orders come from high up and since I am your superior officer I am ordering you and the rest of your freak squad out of here! Unless you want to face a court martial. And as for you X-Mutants, interfere with this and you'll find yourselves in a mutant detention center! Am I clear?"

"You can't…" Angelica began, Roadblock held up a hand to stop her.

"We were under General Hawk's orders to investigate a possible riot," Roadblock spoke. "The blackout caused suspicions and the X-Men were called in to assist by Cooper herself. I have to report to him on this situation."

"Fine," Kincaid snapped. "But **don't** interfere!" He went back inside the van. The sight of his dead soldiers, loyal men one and all infuriated him. He made his way to the communications center. "Kincaid to base! Kincaid to base! Do you copy?"

"General," A soldier's voice crackled. "We copy General what's your status?"

"Alpha team is down, and all my men are dead," Kincaid told him. "Listen to me I need you to send all of Team Beta and…Activate Code Seven."

"Code **Seven** sir?"

"That's what I said soldier!"

"But sir, we were told never to use them unless…" The soldier's voice crackled through the loudspeaker.

"NOW! SEND THEM HERE **NOW!" **Kincaid screamed. "THAT'S AN ORDER!"

"Yes sir," The Solider obeyed. "Code Seven is now activated. ETA will be 30 minutes."

"Faster! I need them now! And transfer controls to this unit."

"But sir the only way I can increase speed is by overloading the backup control unit! We were warned that if that happens we might not be able to fully control…"

"Just shut up and do it solider! That's an order!"

"Understood, backup controls at maximum power…On my mark…"

Meanwhile back outside…

"That was a bluff right?" Fred asked Roadblock.

"Yes," Roadblock sighed. "I'll still call Hawk but it might not do that much good to squawk. Kincaid's covered his rear. We don't have any jurisdiction here."

"You mean Kincaid can just keep attacking these mutants and there's nothing we can do about it?" Kitty was shocked.

"Pretty much yes," Althea sighed. "The Misfits are part of the Army, remember? We have to follow orders."

"Maybe you can follow orders…" Logan growled.

"Hold on Wolverine, don't make a scene," Roadblock took out his communicator. "Not until I get a hold of Hawk."

"Yeah if you do go after them with our luck we may end up fighting you guys," Pietro said. "And not for fun like we usually do."

"You mean if we tried to help the Morlocks you'd try and stop us?" Kitty glared at them.

"I don't like it either," Lance told her.

"But you'd still do it wouldn't you?" Kitty glared at him.

"Kitty…" Lance began. Kitty huffed and turned away.

"Oh for crying out loud Kitty!" Wanda snapped. "You can't blame Lance for this!"

"Actually we blame all of you for this," Tabitha grumbled. Several of the New Mutants had been recruited for the mission as well.

"Now you guys are really off the deep end!" Todd threw up his hands. "It's not like we planned this you know?"

"Yeah," Pietro said. "We like to fight with you guys for fun! Not on a work related thing!"

"Who are you kidding?" Bobby snapped. "You just **live** for this!"

"Oh no…" Logan groaned. "Not again!"

"Will you guys shut up? I'm trying to talk on the phone here!" Roadblock shouted. "General Hawk? Can you hear me now?"

While the X-Men and Misfits were squabbling, Kitty then noticed Xi staring at the nearest sewer opening. "Xi…" Kitty went up to him.

"Kitty, I need your help," Xi said.

"Oh no," Kitty groaned. "If you're thinking of what I think you're thinking of…"

"I thought he was dead," Xi looked at her. "He's my brother…I have to…"

"Okay," Kitty looked at the others. "I know I am totally going to regret this." They both slipped away while the others were arguing down to the sewers.

"But we have to do something!" Roberto shouted after a few minutes more of arguing. "Xi's bro is down there! Right Xi? Xi?"

"Where'd he go?" Scott looked around. He saw a manhole to the sewers. "You don't think…?"

"Where's Kitty?" Jean looked around. " I don't sense her here!"

"Xi must have slipped down there," Lance said. "Kitty must have gone with him!"

"We shouldn't have been fighting like that," Kurt groaned.

"Yeah we were really being jerks," Wanda sighed.

"Some more than others," Pietro looked at Tabitha.

"Are you looking to start something **again** you little…?" Tabitha snapped.

"Guys! Head's up! Something's coming," Arcade looked at his scanner laptop. "Hard and fast from the Northwest at….HOLY CRAP!"

"What?" Scott asked.

"I'm using satellite tracking to magnify," Arcade punched in the numbers. "Look! Five of them headed this way!"

"That can't be…?" Althea gasped. "How?"

"Sentinels…" Jean was chilled to the bone. "He's sending **Sentinels** after them!"

**Oh boy, things are not good are they? Keep reading for more developments as things go from really bad to really worse! **


	88. Confrontation

**Confrontation**

"SENTINELS?" Logan shouted. "Those bastards have **Sentinels?"**

"Those Morlocks won't have a chance!" Scott shouted.

"Screw protocol!" Lance snapped as he kicked down the door to the van. "KINCAID!"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU FREAK?" Kincaid shouted. Roadblock and the other Misfits charged in after Lance and a lot of shouting could be heard.

"Nightcrawler," Jean said. "Come with me and let's find Xi and Kitty."

"Sunspot, Gambit, Berzerker and X23, you go with them," Scott ordered. "We have to warn them!"

"Great, I'll have to make two trips," Kurt groaned.

"Just get in the sewer and stop complaining!" Rina snapped as she opened the manhole cover.

"Stop the Sentinels now!" Roadblock shouted at Kincaid.

"You forget your place soldier, I am…" Kincaid roared when suddenly there was a warning alert. "What the…?"

"Now what?" Althea asked.

"One of the Sentinels has veered off course," Kincaid looked at the monitor. "It's headed for…NO! NO YOU STUPID PIECE OF JUNK!"

"What happened?" Wanda asked.

"One of the damn things veered off course! What do you **think** happened?" Kincaid yelled.

"Let me see," Arcade shoved him aside. "According to this it's picked up a mutant signature…in a hospital!"

"Oh freaking no…" Althea snapped. She glared at Kincaid. "Stop it!"

"I can't stop it!" Kincaid snapped. "Even if I wanted too I…" A buzzer sounded. "Now what? Uh oh…"

"Uh oh?" Rogue asked. "What the hell does Uh Oh mean?"

"It's targeting its weapons system!" Kincaid shouted. "It's not supposed to be on maximum! Not yet anyway!"

"Maximum?" Scott yelled.

"Come on!" Rogue flew off to head it off. Too late. They saw the explosion in the sky.

"GODDESS!" Ororo screamed as the Sentinels approached. "NO!"

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"This place is even creepier than those tombs in Egypt," Kitty shuddered as they walked in the sewers. "So where do you think your brother is Xi? Xi?"

Xi was lost in thought. He was remembering a day that seemed to long ago.

_Xi and three others of their unit were racing down the halls of the facility. One was in the lead carrying a sword. Seven and Twelve were both unarmed but their claws dripped with blood. They fought off every Cobra that challenged them. One by one they saw the bodies of the others. _

_Once there were fourteen of them._

_Now there were only four._

_They made their way to the outside of the building. It was overlooking a huge waterfall. Thunder and lightning lit up the night sky as the four of them tried to make their way across the bridge separating the two sides of the facility._

_"We can blow up the power grid to the other side!" Seven told them. _

_"Keep moving!" One roared. _

_A sniper shot at them. He barely missed One. _

_"ONE!" Xi ran to cover him. A sharp pain sliced into his shoulder. He slipped._

_The next thing he knew, he had fallen over the railing._

_"ELEVEN!" One screamed reaching out to Xi as he fell. "ELEVEN!" _

"Xi! Hey Xi snap out of it!" Kitty waved her hand in front of Xi. "This place is creepy enough without you going blank on me."

"Sorry," Xi apologized. "I was…remembering."

"So this One guy is like your big brother right?" Kitty asked.

"He was the first one created and the leader of the unit," Xi explained. "Also the one they did the most experiments on. In addition to my skills he has other abilities."

"Like what?" Kitty asked.

"You…Don't want to know," Xi told her. He found the door to the Vault. "This looks like one of Cobra's designs. It could be an old headquarters."

"Well let's go take a look," Kitty took Xi's hand and they walked through the door. They came face to face with over a dozen very angry mutants. "Or maybe we should have just knocked first?"

"If you're with those creeps out there…" Eve charged up.

"Wait!" Solitaire stopped her. "I know one of them."

"Hey! This guy looks a lot like you," Cell noticed as he looked from Xi to Solitaire.

"One?" Xi gasped.

"You…" Solitaire gasped. "You're alive…Eleven it **is **you!"

"I am known as Xi now," Xi explained.

"I am called Solitaire," His 'brother' replied. "I thought those rumors of one of us working for the humans was a lie. I thought there was no way one of us could ever willingly allow ourselves to be enslaved again!"

"I am not a slave," Xi told him. "You don't know…"

"It's an X-Man!" Dorian piped up. Mrs. Leech was right behind him as he ran up to Kitty. "And you're one of the Misfits!"

"I told you both to stay in the shelter!" Solitaire shouted.

"The kids were getting restless," Slicer walked up to them with more mutants. "Relax. Nobody's gonna blast through that door."

"Dorian! Mrs. Leech?" Kitty was surprised. "What are you doing here? We've been trying to find you for like forever!"

"So was the GRSO," Postman explained. "That's why we took 'em in."

"You said something about him working with humans?" Cell asked Solitaire. He looked at Xi. "That true? You trying to hunt down your own kind?"

"No!" Kitty shouted. "We're here to help!"

"Help who? The humans?" Litterbug snapped. "Don't sell me any line about mutants working for the military! I was in the army before I changed! I know what they do to mutants!"

"Yeah and you X-Jokers aren't that much better!" Eve agreed. "Always trying to make nice with people who wanna kill us!"

"The X-Men believe that most humans will understand us in time," Kitty said.

"Yeah right!" Cell snorted.

"Most humans would rather see us dead than listen to us," Eve pointed out.

"What about Mrs. Leech?" Kitty pointed.

"She's the exception that proves…" Solitaire began when the ground began to violently shake. "What's that?"

That's when Kurt teleported in with Jean and Roberto. "Good we're not dead…" Kurt grumbled.

"That is debatable," Solitaire growled at them.

"You gotta get out of here!" Jean warned. "They're sending…"

Just then the ceiling began to break apart. Rubble fell on top of the mutants. They could see the sky in holes above them. And what was making the holes.

"THAT'S A SENTINEL!" Kitty screamed just as a stream of gas began to pour into the area.

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It was a scene of absolute chaos. The Sentinel that had attacked the hospital had gone haywire. It was now blasting everything in sight. It took all Rogue and Ororo's powers to destroy it. Ororo used a tornado like force to knock it off balance and froze its weapon's systems with a blizzard. Rogue used brute strength to tear it to pieces.

That left the rest of the Misfits and X-Men to deal with the remaining Sentinels. They managed to keep them at bay until more seven figures flew in from the sky.

"**More **Sentinels?" Rogue shouted. "How many does this guy have?"

One Sentinel had been wrecking the ground, punching holes and setting off some kind of gas. When the mutants tried to stop it, two more Sentinels appeared and shot missiles and lasers at them. One Sentinel was in the shape of a giant oblong spider with ten legs and pincers.

Scott blasted at the Sentinels as much as he could with his optic blasts but found that these Sentinels were reasonably protected against them. Something bamphed next to him and he saw Kurt and Rina on their knees coughing.

"Gas…" Rina told him before she passed out. Kurt fell unconscious seconds later without a word.

To his horror he saw several Sentinels scooping up unconscious mutants and loading them inside the huge spider like contraption. He saw a familiar flash of red hair. "JEAN!"

He raced to her aid only to find his way blocked by two more Sentinels that appeared. He used the full force of his optic rays only to knock them down. One grabbed for him only for it to be repelled by Lance's seismic tremors. "I've got your back!" Lance shouted.

"Thanks!" Scott blasted a missile intended for Lance. "I've got yours!"

There were explosions and falling debris all around the mutants as they fought for their lives. Although they managed to damage several Sentinels, this new batch was stronger. Suddenly as one they stopped attacking and the ones still standing flew away. "They're getting away!" Todd yelled.

"Let 'em," Fred moaned. "My head hurts. Is it me or were those Sentinels harder to beat?"

"It's not you," Ororo landed. "They must have been upgraded to combat our powers more effectively. Anyone seriously injured?"

"A few bumps and scratches but…" Althea groaned.

"Kurt and Rina got a good sniff of that gas," Rogue said. She saw Kitty limping towards her, she was hanging onto Logan for support. "You don't look so good."

"Gas…I managed to phase just in time," Kitty coughed. "But I…(Cough) couldn't get anyone else. Sentinels blasted some of the Morlocks and the others…"

"No sign of survivors," Logan told them. "I just checked the tunnels. They even took the dead."

"They got Jean," Scott told them. "The Sentinels captured Jean!"

"Gambit and Sunspot are missing too," Ororo told them.

"They're gone…" Rogue gasped.

"I found this…" Todd held up a broken watch. "Xi's teleportation watch. But no sign of Xi."

"Kincaid has taken off too," Roadblock noticed. "Now what are we gonna do?"

"We find them, **that's** what we'll do," Scott growled.

"I think I know where they're headed," Althea said. "The trouble is we gotta find the place."

"What place? Where are they going?" Kitty asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Althea asked. "Neverland."


	89. Neverland

**Neverland**

"I can't believe we lost them," Scott paced back and forth. The X-Men and Misfits were recovering back at the Institute.

"I can't believe we survived another Sentinel attack," Pietro grumbled as he put an ice bag on his head. "Talk about your disasters. And it's another one that made the news!"

"At least the press aren't blaming us, mostly anyway," Rogue told him. "But that still doesn't change the fact that Jean, Remy, Xi and Robertowere captured and taken to Neverland which is God knows where."

"This is all our fault. We shouldn't have been fighting among ourselves," Kurt sighed.

"Yeah I mean at least not while we were on the clock," Todd said. "Sorry."

"No, we're sorry," Kitty sighed. "We should have known you guys wouldn't have had a choice in the matter. I mean you guys were doing your jobs."

"And now we have a new job," Roadblock told them as he walked in. "The Press is in a state over the whole Sentinel Mess! The government is denying, but most folks ain't buying!"

"Translation?" Kurt raised an eyebrow.

"We're gonna track those Sentinels down," Roadblock told them.

"And Kincaid is gonna get thrown to the wolves huh?" Lance asked. "Fine by me!"

"If we catch him," Wanda corrected. "And if we find Jean and the others."

"If they're still alive," Logan frowned.

"Jean's alive. She's not hurt, not yet…" Scott spoke.

"How do you know?" Lance asked.

"I just do," Scott explained. "We have a psychic bond and it's been growing stronger lately. I know she's in danger but she's not physically hurt. But I don't know how long that will last."

"Hmmm…" Forge thought. "Psychic link huh?"

"What are you thinking about Forge?" Rogue asked.

"Well maybe this Neverland place can block mutant signatures…" Forge thought aloud. "But it might not be able to completely block personal ones."

"What?" Tabitha asked.

"Every living thing on this planet has an bio electric energy field all it's own," Spirit explained.

"You mean like an aura or the force?" Bobby asked.

"Something like that," Spirit nodded. "Sometimes individuals with strong connections to each other can sense the other's auras."

"You mean we can use Scott and Jean's psychic bond to find her?" Wanda asked.

"It's worth a try," Spirit said.

"I can hook it up to Cerebro within the hour," Forge told Xavier.

"Do it," Xavier ordered. "Kitty, Arcade help him. The rest of you try to get some rest. You're going to need it."

"Jean…" Scott's fists tightened. "Please be okay. I'll find you, I promise."

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"Where are we?" Remy groaned as he tried to sit up. He found his hands bound behind his back.

"Shut up, mutant," The voice of Kincaid chilled his blood. He looked up and saw that he, Jean and the other mutants were surrounded by dozens of armed guards and scientists in some kind of large holding area. "Welcome to Neverland. The first step in the final solution to the mutant menace."

"And you did it in early Nazi Germany, how charming," Remy sneered. He saw that the other X-Men had collars on and were being held separate from the other mutants. Many of the Morlocks didn't have collars on but were being held back with taser rods or whips. Mrs. Leech wasn't tied up and was holding onto her unconscious son with all her might.

"Isn't this a surprise," A tall blonde scientist sneered as he looked at the X-Men. "Looks like we got some X-Men in the bargain as well."

"We need them intact Dr. Lang," Another scientist told him. "They're obviously much more valuable than your garden variety mutant."

"Dr. Windsor is correct," Kincaid said. "The Leech boy we need. Our collar shortage is about to become a thing of the past."

"Collar shortage?" Jean frowned.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with, mutant. Lang, how many dead mutants recovered?" Kincaid asked a guard.

"About seventeen," Lang said. "The Sentinel that retrieved them has taken the bodies to Section Five."

"Have the researchers dissect them immediately," Kincaid ordered. "And tomorrow pick seven of our new guests to test the Sentinel Mark III models some more! They seem to malfunction under pressure."

"How could you think of doing such a thing?" Jean shouted. "They're people!"

"Not our kind of people. More like demons. You X-Men think you're so special. That you're above us! I'm going to enjoy breaking your spirit," Dr. Lang sneered at Jean.

"Later Doctor," Dr. Windsor told him. "We need these mutants unharmed, for now. Put them in the holding center in the main lab."

"What about her?" Kincaid pointed to Mrs. Leech. "She's not a mutant."

"Put her in with them too," Dr. Windsor told him. "And take the boy to my lab. We can put him in my latest project immediately."

"NO!" Mrs. Leech tried to resist. "DORIAN!" They tore her son away from her. "DORIAN!"

"You don't know what you're doing!" Remy shouted. "That kid's powers will cause your reactor to explode!"

"I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP, MUTIE!" Kincaid grabbed his gun and whacked Remy on the temple withit's handle. Remy collapsed on the floor.

"GAMBIT!" Jean cried.

"Unless you want what your friend got I suggest you keep your mouths shut," One guard sneered.

"Take them away," Kincaid ordered. "And lock the rest of these freaks up!"

Two guards picked up Remy and dragged him as Jean, Roberto and Mrs. Leech were forced down the corridor. Soon they were taken to a large darkened lab. The guards removed the restraints from their hands but not the collars from the mutant's necks and shoved them into the large cell in the corner. "And stay in there freaks!" One guard snapped before they left.

"Is he okay?" Roberto asked as Mrs. Leech and Jean looked at Remy.

"Yeah I think so," Jean sighed.

"Don't worry," Remy came to. "Gambit's head harder than it looks."

"Welcome to the VIP suite," Someone grunted behind them. They turned and saw a young girl; seventeen with long dirty blonde hair, red T-shirt, a torn jean jacket and torn jeans. She was sitting in the corner of the cell on a mat near the toilet.

"Who are you?" Jean asked.

"Lisa Lizer. Who are you? You must be real important for them not to shove you in the pens."

"I'm Jean, this is Gambit, Sunspot and Mrs. Leech," Jean introduced themselves.

"The Pens?" Roberto asked.

"That's where they put most of the mutants who come here," Lisa explained. "Those mutants are experimented on, or if the guards get too bored they're forced to fight each other…Or worse forms of recreation if you get my drift."

"That's horrible," Mrs. Leech was shocked.

"At least here you get a toilet and a mat and you're fed more than once a day," Lisa grumbled. "Compared to the pens this place is a five star hotel."

"Why then are you in here?" Remy asked.

"What can I say? I'm a favorite," She grunted. "I don't want to talk about my powers but let's just say they got me in here. And I've been here for about…" She looked at the markings on the wall. "Six months…"

"What about your parents?" Mrs. Leech asked.

"Are you kidding?" She laughed. "Once they learned I was a mutant they couldn't **wait **to sell me out! Didn't even bother to ask what I could do…" She saw their stunned faces. "They had this test at school. Everybody had to take it since it was a private school. One of them religious institutions, ya know? I flunked. That's how I ended up here."

"We're X-Men," Roberto explained. "We were trying to save some Morlocks from the Sentinels."

"Nice job," Lisa said sarcastically. She looked at Mrs. Leech. "I take it you're one of the Morlocks?"

"Technically," She sighed. "I'm human but my boy, Dorian…He's a mutant."

"Wait, you're name wouldn't happen to be Leech would it?" Lisa asked.

"Yes, how did you know?" Mrs. Leech asked.

"Lady those jokers who run this place have done nothing but scream about how they couldn't find your kid for the past four months!" Lisa told her. "That Lang character once tore apart a whole lab because he was so impatient. I don't know what kind of sick project he wants to do but he really wants your kid to be a part of it. What does your kid do anyway?"

"He can shut down energy," Mrs. Leech sighed. "And mutant powers."

"No wonder they wanted him so bad," Lisa groaned. "There's a real collar shortage around here what with all the mutants trying to fight back and all. Not to mention the parts for 'em don't come cheap. And those power suppressors they got built into the walls ain't exactly reliable. There's been a few incidents but…" She shook her head. "More mutants than humans ended up dead."

"You don't have a collar on," Remy noticed.

"Like I said my powers…Don't work like yours," Lisa sighed. "I really don't want to talk about it."

"We have to save Dorian," Mrs. Leech worried.

"We will," Jean told her.

"Yeah right," Lisa snorted. "Listen Ms. X-Woman in case you haven't noticed, you're stuck in a cage in the middle of a lab that experiments on mutants. You're in the middle of nowhere and your powers are shut down. Face it, nobody's coming to the rescue here. You're just another lab rat waiting to be dissected and there's nothing you can do about it."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Why the hell do we always have to do this?" One of three guards grumbled as they went to inspect the bodies of the dead mutants and soldiers the Sentinel had brought back. "Why can't we get the prisoners to do this?"

"We used to before this incident," Another guard said. "It was before you transferred. Turned out one of the freaks could steal mutant powers from the dead. Thing took out ten of our guys and put four more in the Infirmary before we blasted it to pieces. It's safer if we do it."

"So just take a few muties with collars on and…" The first guard began to speak. Then he made an odd choking sound.

"You okay?" The third guard asked. The first guard just stood there. "Hey what…" He stepped closer and looked into his eyes. He realized that he was dead. "Holy crap but how…?"

The body of the soldier suddenly flung towards him. Something grabbed the other guard and knocked him down, killing him. The third guard shoved the dead body off just in time to see Xi reappear and stand before him. "Why you tricky little…"

Xi knocked the weapon from his hands. "You're dead you little…" The third guard snarled before Xi broke his neck.

Xi took the keys from the guard. "Don't count on it," Xi sneered before he turned invisible again.


	90. Fight For Freedom Part I

**Fight For Freedom Part I**

"What the hell was that idiot **thinking?"** Gyrich slammed his fist on the desk. "I could kill Kincaid for this!"

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING GIVING HIM THOSE SENINELS FROM PROJECT WIDEAWAKE IN THE FIRST PLACE?" Eddington shouted back at him. "I told you to send Kincaid some support but **not…"**

"For Christ's sake Eddington, how was I supposed to know he would use them so recklessly?" Gyrich screamed. "I told him to use them only around Neverland and only in an emergency!"

"Apparently Kincaid has a different definition of the word 'emergency'," Eddington said sarcastically.

"I am **not** the one who put him in charge of Project Neverland," Gyrich reminded him.

"No, but you **are** the one who gave him a few Sentinels without telling me about it!" Eddington snarled.

"You said and I quote, 'Give General Kincaid whatever assistance he asks for no matter what'," Gyrich told him. "Three guesses what the **first **thing he asked for was?"

"For crying out…" Eddington winced and rubbed his nose.

"Let's look at the positive on this," Gyrich said. "At least no one can track the Sentinels to us."

"Wrong," Eddington glared at him. "Thanks to General Hawk and public outcry the Misfits have been given full clearance to track down these Sentinels!"

"WHAT? HOW COULD THAT HAPPEN?" Gyrich shouted.

"ONE OF THE DAMN THINGS TRASHED A HOSPITAL AND AN ENTIRE CITY BLOCK! IT WAS FILMED ON NATIONAL TELEVISION, REMEMBER?" Eddington shouted. "HOW COULD THAT **NOT **HAPPEN?"

"What do we know about the mutant that was terminated in that instance?" Gyrich thought hard. "We could say he was a terrorist."

"Pretty much of a stretch considering **she** was a six year old with Muscular Dystrophy," Eddington sneered. "According to the Sentinel records she was a low level empath, not fully developed."

"I take it some of this information is already out there?" Gyrich sighed.

"Oh yes, those X-Snoops managed to retreive it from one of the Sentinels they blew up and the Misfit Morons gave it to the press. But wait, it gets better," Eddington told him. "Her human roommate that wasseriouslyinjured in the blast was the daughter of a very well respected, and very wealthy newspaper publisher!"

"Christ…" Gyrich took of his glasses and rubbed his nose.

"And on top of that a nurse was in the room as well as she was also killed instantly!" Eddington threw up his hands. "They're already calling it the Sentinel Slaughter! Even the FOH is condemning this attack because humans got caught in the crossfire and you **know** that's a bad sign!"

"What does this mean for Project Wideawake?" Gyrich asked.

"If we don't get Kincaid soon there won't **be** a Project Wideawake!" Eddington told him. "Years of careful planning down the drain because a trigger happy General couldn't wait a few days!"

"One thing in our favor there's no paperwork connecting Kincaid to us," Gyrich said. "I made sure of that."

"Are you **sure?"** Eddington asked in tone that implied he did not fully believe him.

"Yes I'm sure!" Gyrich snapped. "The only thing connecting us to Kincaid and the Sentinels is Kincaid himself! We just have to get him before anyone else does!"

"I'd hate to lose him," Eddington sighed. "Yes, he's a trigger happy moron but he's a **dedicated** trigger happy moron. He has skills and experience that would be hard to replace."

"First they have to **find **Project Neverland," Gyrich told him. "Which they never will thanks to the sensors in place."

"Famous last words," Eddington told him. "For some reason that does not comfort me! No we need to take more drastic measures." He started to punch in some numbers on his cell phone. He spoke into the phone. "Eddington here. I need you to bring someone to me right away…"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

In a bar somewhere…

"So where exactly is this General Kincaid hiding out?" Deadpool, the mercenary for hire spoke into the phone. "Really? You gotta be kidding me. Does Michael Jackson know you stole the name of his playhouse? Not that he's gonna use it much anymore but still…Fine. Okay fine. Yeah I got it. Pick him up and go. Are you sure you want him alive? Okay! Okay! No need to get testy. You know my price. Two million straight into the Swiss Bank Account. One now and the rest when I bring you Kincaid."

Deadpool opened up a portable laptop. "I'm looking at my bank statement now. Looking. Looking. Still looking…I'm still looking here! I will sing the theme from that game show with Alex Trebek until I get the money. You know the words. Dah, dah dah dah, da dah da!...Ah there we go. I'll get right on that as soon as I book a flight with my travel agent. You know you really need to develop a sense of humor General. Fine. I'm off."

He shut the phone off then dialed in another number. "Hello it's me," Deadpool spoke into the phone. "Remember that little thing you wanted me to find. Well I think I just found it. You'll never guess what they're calling it. Go on guess! Geeze don't burst a blood vessel or anything! You should relax more. Fine I'll tell you already, stop screaming!It's called Neverland. I'm sending you the coordinates as I speak."

He typed on the laptop and sent the co-ordinates. "You've got mail," Deadpool said cheerfully. "Now I gotta pick up this general and transport him to…Yeah they want me to take this General Kincaid guy to 'em so they can save their butts. Oh? That's gonna cost you extra. Okay tell me something, why are Masters of Magnetism so freaking stingy with their money? Hey things are tough all over! I've got bills and hookers to pay so…Fine! I'll do it! Geeze! I swear you should learn to relax. Go to a spa or something."

Deadpool listened for a while. "Of course this information is legit. I know, you would think that these military geniuses would be smart enough not to trust information like this to a guy who was a former lab rat! Hey! I resemble that remark! I called **you **didn't I? That would kind of indicate who's side I'm really on! Okay I'm on my own side but still you gotta give me **some** credit! I could have just given this to Xavier you know? Who am I kidding? He's an even bigger tightwad than you are!"

Deadpool stopped and listened. "So what's this detour you want me to do? You're kidding? I thought you **hated**…Oh I see. Well nice to hear that the two of you have kissed and made up but…Fine! I'll do it! But I still want to be paid! Don't worry Magneto. What I'm giving you will be worth the four million dollars easy. Actually it's worth five million but…Fine! I'll take it! Deadpool out."

He closed the cell phone. "Cheapskate."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The guards often enjoyed tormenting the new prisoners. They figured that mutants without their powers would be easy to beat into submission.

However these guards didn't realize that Solitaire had plenty of experience in dealing with guards without powers.

"Oh my god!" One guard shouted as Solitaire managed to break the neck of the guard who had tackled him. "He killed Kenny!"

"YOU BASTARD!" Another guard shouted. They rushed him only to be swiftly beaten and have their necks broken.

"I've always said those guys watched too much South Park," Another guard groaned.

"Who's next?" Solitaire hissed at the remaining five guards.

"This will take the fight out of you," One guard lifted his taser rod to strike Solitaire. Only to be hit from behind. "WHAT?" He was hit again and knocked down.

"What in the hell?" Another guard gasped as the taser the guard was holding floated away. "GHOST!"

"Ghost my AAAHHHHH!" One guard snapped before he was hit by the taser. The remaining guards were hit with the weapon and knocked out.

Xi reappeared and used his keys to remove the collar from Solitaire. "Come on! We need to free the others!"

"You still think humans such as these could be our allies?" Solitaire hissed.

"Well not **these** humans, obviously," Xi remarked. Soon they freed not only the Morlocks that had been captured but also 34 other mutants that were held prisoner.

"We're free!" Patch whooped.

"The hell we are," Litterbug snapped. "We're still stuck here!"

"Listen we have to rescue Dorian Leech. They are attempting to use his powers in order to shut down all the powers of the mutants so that they will not need the collars. The problem is that it will not work," Xi told them.

"That's a bad thing?" One mutant with scales asked.

"Considering the fact that it will blow up the entire state with us in it yes," Xi told him. "Long story…But trust me, they will fail. We have to work together!"

Solitaire narrowed his eyes. "I will rescue the boy," He said. He looked at the group of mutants. "Who knows where the main lab is?"

"I do," A thin scarred mutant held up his hand. "They took me there for experiments a few times. My blood turns to metal when exposed to air. Don't ask how I survived this long."

"I assume you wish for revenge?" Solitaire asked.

"Why the hell not?" He grinned.

"There are other mutants in smaller labs all over the compound," Another dog like mutant female spoke. "Your friends might be in one of them."

"Along with Leech's mother," Solitaire said.

A green male mutant picked up one of the guard's weapons. "Now that we've got our powers back and some weapons I say we trash this place! Who's with me?" A roar of agreement went up from the captives.

Several heavily armed guards ran towards them with guns drawn. "GET BACK IN YOUR CAGES FREAKS!" One shouted.

"Try and make us," Solitaire hissed. He used his powers to destroy several weapons. "ATTACK!"

And the Battle of Neverland began.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Okay, it's ready," Forge made the final adjustments to Cerebro. Scott sat in the seat. The others were in Cerebro waiting.

"So what do I do?" Scott asked.

"Just concentrate on Jean," Xavier instructed. "Think about her. Use your bond to reach out to her."

"Okay," Scott sighed and began to concentrate. _Jean…Jean…Jean…_

Deep in the cell at Neverland…

Jean felt something. "Scott?"

"JEAN!" Scott shot up. Cerebro began to spark and fizzle.

"SHUT IT DOWN!" Xavier ordered. Scott barely got the Cerebro helmet off before it completely fizzled.

"Aw man it's fried!" Forge groaned.

"But it worked," Scott said. "I felt her!"

"And we got a reading," Hank looked at the coordinates. "It's in Canada."

"Canada?" Logan growled. "Why do I have the feeling Department H knows something about this?"

"We'll debate about conspiracy theories later," Pietro said. "We gotta get there before they hook that kid up to something that'll start World War Three and a Half!"

"We gotta use our teleportation watches," Althea punched in the coordinates. "It's the fastest way there."

"Hey we want in on this party too!" Tim walked in with several of the other New Mutant recruits.

"Normally I would say no," Xavier sighed. "But something tells me we need all the firepower we can get."

"All right!" Jamie jumped up. "Mission time!"

"You stay with Boom Boom," Rogue ordered. "You two made quite a team during Apocalypse."

"We did it before, we'll do it again," Tabitha grinned. "Come on! Let's go kick the bad guys' butts and bring our friends home!"

"Hold on Jean, we're coming," Scott said just before they teleported out.


	91. Fight For Freedom Part II

**Fight For Freedom Part II**

"The first thing we gotta do is get these collars off," Jean thought aloud. "Gambit, do you have any of your lock picking equipment on?"

Remy fished inside one of his boots and pulled out a small metal device. "Gambit thinks he can arrange that. Hold still." He started to work on Jean's collar.

"Careful!" Lisa warned. "One wrong move and those things will blow your head off! Not that it'll do you any good anyway. There's some kind of low level power inhibitor in here."

"Well ain't you Miss Cheerful!" Remy grumbled as he worked.

"Excuse me," Lisa snapped. "I've been surrounded by torture and death for the past six months. It hasn't exactly brightened my outlook on life!"

The collar slipped off Jean and Remy went to work on Roberto's almost immediately. "Easy as pie," He grinned.

"I'm going to try and use my telepathy to find out…" Jean put her hand to her head in order to concentrate.

"Don't!" Lisa cried out but it was too late.

"Ow!" Jean winced and fell down in pain. "I…I can't sense anything! My telepathy…It's gone!"

"Told you," Lisa grumbled. "Why don't people listen to me?"

Remy charged up one of his cards once his collar was off. "Gambit's powers seem to be working just fine." He threw it at the bars of the cage, but it didn't break.

"They're made out of something called Adamantium," Lisa told him.

"**Now** you tell Remy that!" He groaned as five guards rushed in.

"All right you freaks! I don't know how you got your collars off…"One guard snarled. Suddenly a loud commotion could be heard. "What the…?"

The door opened but nothing was there. "Are these damn things on the fritz again?" A second guard asked. Suddenly he was knocked down.

Before the guards knew what hit them, they were beaten and weaponless. Xi and Solitaire reappeared. "Are we glad to see you!" Roberto said as they were let out of the cell.

"Where's Dorian?" Mrs. Leech asked.

"He's not with you?" Xi asked.

"They took him away," She told him. "To another lab. Said he was going to be part of some project."

"We have to stop them and fast," Jean explained. "If they hook Dorian up to their generators…"

"Kaboom, we know," Roberto groaned.

"We've started a revolt," Xi said. "But it could take time."

"If only I could use my telepathy," Jean sighed. "I could track down his mind somehow."

"But why can't you use your powers?" Roberto asked. "We can use ours."

"I don't know," Jean shrugged.

"Maybe this one does," Solitaire looked at Lisa.

"Hey I don't know anything! Let go!" Lisa yelped as Solitaire grabbed her arm. She pulled away but that was enough for him to read her DNA codes.

"It's **her** isn't it?" Remy asked.

"Yes. Her powers inhibit telepathy," Solitaire explained.

"You mean she's some kind of anti-telepath?" Roberto asked. "**She's **the reason Jean couldn't use her powers?"

"Cut down my empathy too," Remy glared at her. "You working with them, girl?"

"Does it **look **like I'm working for them?" Lisa snapped. "I've been stuck in this hell hole for nearly a year!"

"Then why didn't you tell us what your powers were?" Roberto shouted.

"I dunno," She glared at them. "Maybe because I didn't want to get **killed?** The last time I told my cellmates what my powers were they tried to kill me in order so they could use their powers again! They were telepaths who weren't exactly fond of me. I was lucky to get out of that in one piece! And the two of them ended up in a **lot** of pieces!"

"What happened to them?" Roberto asked.

"Hello? I just told you!" She produced a shiv out of her boots. "How do you **think **I did it?"

"You killed them?" Jean was in shock, not just from her experience.

"I didn't have a choice! It was either them or me!" Lisa held the weapon defensively. "So don't any of you get any funny ideas!"

"Lisa…" Jean began.

"Stay back!" Lisa warned. "I'm warning you!"

"Mutants shouldn't fight other mutants…" Jean said softly. "Not like this."

"Please!" She spat. "I know about you X-Jokers! You fight other mutants all the time just for the fun of it! No wonder the humans don't trust us, and you know something? I don't blame 'em!"

"Lisa…" Jean began.

"I said to stay back!" Lisa snarled. "I won't let you hurt me!"

"Sorry but I have no choice…" Jean sighed. She was able to use her telekinesis to shove her against the wall, knocking her out.

"You should have let me kill her," Solitaire hissed.

"That's why she just knocked her out," Xi explained. "Are they…?"

"No," Jean groaned. "Apparently her powers are always on, even unconscious."

"She actually thought we were going to kill her," Roberto was stunned.

"Don't take a telepath to see that," Remy snorted. "We gotta go."

"What about her?" Mrs. Leech asked pointing to Lisa.

"We can't just leave her here!" Jean said.

"Got no choice," Remy said. "If we bring her you can't use your telepathy. After we get the boy we can come back for her later."

"You probably will be able to use your telepathy the further we are from her," Roberto reasoned.

"You're right, preventing a nuclear explosion comes first," Jean sighed.

"Nuclear explosion?" Mrs. Leech asked.

"We'll explain later," Jean said. "Come on, let's go!" They ran out of the room.

Meanwhile in the control center of Neverland. "WHAT THE HELL IS ALL THAT RACKET?" Kincaid shouted at his underlings.

"The mutants sir, they're revolting!" One soldier told him.

"I've been saying that for years," Kincaid grumbled.

"No sir, they are **really** revolting," He pointed to the monitors. "Look! TheX-Men we capturedare loose and most of the mutants have escaped the main Pens!"

"Oh for crying…" Kincaid gnashed his teeth. "Send squads Four through Seven to quell the…"

BOOOOM! BOOM!

"Now what?" Kincaid shouted. "That came from outside!"

"Sir the X-Men and Misfits are attacking!" Another soldier showed him on another monitor.

"Fine…" Kincaid growled. "I want all Sentinels outside! Set them to termination mode!"

"But sir, the ones that have returned haven't even been repaired yet," The soldier said.

"No time," Kincaid said. "Send them out. Hopefully they'll do enough of a job to slow them down. We still have ten functioning Sentinels on reserve. Also send out every tank we've got as well as the first battalion of armored squad. Send Squad 9 out for support of the main science lab where Project X Elimination is. All remaining squads contain the mutants inside! Those that resist are terminated!"

It didn't take long for the Sentinels to be activated. "Heads up!" Logan warned. "Here comes the welcome wagon!"

"Bring 'em on," Tabitha made a huge energy bomb and threw it to Peter. "Here ya go Colossus, throw 'em a fastball special will ya?"

"AHHHHHHGGGGH!" Peter shouted as he hefted it into the air. It hit one Sentinel, which went down quickly.

"One down, twenty something more to go," Lance noticed the tanks and soldiers streaming out to attack them. "And they brought friends!"

"Let's do it!" Scott shouted.

Outside the X-Men and Misfits fought the Sentinels and tanks in order to get into Neverland. Inside dozens of abused, angry mutants fought soldiers and small robots in order to get **out **of Neverland. Some had electric powers. One had shadow like powers enabling her to dodge in and out. Some could control fire and ice. A few had limited teleportation powers, one of them used the opportunity not to fight, but fled to parts unknown, taking two weaker younger mutants with her.

Those mutants that did not have strong offensive powers grabbed whatever weapons they could. Guns from fallen soldiers, broken pipes or sharp objects. They used whatever they could to fight for survival. Running in and out of every room they came into to either free other mutants or fight more humans.

Jean struggled to not give into the madness surrounding her. She used her shields to protect Mrs. Leech as well as some of the weaker mutants, including Artie. Remy and Roberto fought hard as well, managing not to kill their targets.

Not all of their companions were so forgiving.

In the years that followed mutants would talk in whispers and in underground conversations about the Battle of Neverland. Sometimes the numbers of mutants fought and killed and or humans fought and killed would vary. Several stories would be told surrounding this battle. Some imagined, some factual, others greatly exaggerated.

All would become legendary.

The basic truth of the story remained. It was a fierce and it was deadly. For both sides.

But mostly for the humans. As Kincaid witnessed from the monitors of his command center. The damaged Sentinels had been quickly dispatched and his tanks were almost annihilated. The more functional Sentinels managed to last longer but were still being beaten back by the mutants. The attempt to use gas on them backfired, as Storm used the wind to blow the gas the other way. Although his soldiers on the outside weren't being killed they were being routed and many fled in terror.

Inside Neverland it was getting worse. More and more mutants were being freed from the labs and trashing them. The soldiers were trying to stop them but with facing mutant powers the fighting was all but futile. Many of his scientists were either fleeing for their lives or killed already. And any robotic assistance was quickly being trashed by mutants with telekinetic or electric abilities.

He was fighting a battle on two fronts and he was losing.

Unless his scientists got that damned contraption up and running soon.

He ran down to the main lab with a few soldiers. Dr. Windsor and a few scientists were working on the device. Dorian was hooked up to a huge dish, which was attached by wires to a large power converter. "Dr. Windsor! Is that damned thing ready yet? And where the hell is Dr. Lang?"

"He fled like a little girl running to a Barbie convention," Dr. Windsor snorted. "Once he heard the mutants were revolting. Where the hell did you find that gutless idiot anyway?"

"He was recommended by Trask," Kincaid told him.

"Well that explains a lot," Dr. Windsor grumbled. "I'm almost done. In about three minutes every mutant within three miles will lose their powers. They should be easy to control after that."

"What about the mutant's electrical nullification abilities?" Kincaid asked.

"Maybe a few toasters might explode but I'm pretty sure we'll be able to…" Dr. Windsor shrugged. Suddenly the noise outside the door grew louder.

"They're here!" Kincaid drew out his gun. "Defensive positions!"

There was an explosion. Solitaire, Jean, Remy, Xi, Roberto, Eve and a few other mutants were at the door. "DORIAN!" Mrs. Leech screamed.

"Stop him!" Jean shouted. "If he turns on that device…"

"GET THEM!" Kincaid ordered. The soldiers started firing on them. Eve, Roberto and a few other mutants took care of the soldiers, knocking the weapons out of their hands. Jean shielded them using her telekinesis.

"Too late!" Dr. Windsor readied himself to push the button on the machine. "Now…"

Xi tackled Dr. Windsor and knocked him down. Remy charged up a card and used it to slice into the power cords that led back to Neverland's main source of power, effectively shutting it off before it was even turned on.

"NO!" Kincaid screamed. "Without that device to shut off the mutants' powers! We're done for!"

"You fools," Dr. Windsor snarled as he knocked Xi off of him. "You have no idea what you've done!"

"You are the fool! You have no idea how close you came to total annihilation Sinister!" Xi snarled.

"Sinister? **That's** Sinister!" Remy shouted.

"What are they babbling about?" Kincaid asked. The mutants backed the soldiers and the scientists into a corner.

"The good doctor here is a mutant," Xi told him. "Well more like an altered human anyway..."

"WHAT?" Kincaid snarled.

"You're not serious," Eve gasped.

"I am really beginning to get annoyed by you Xi," Sinister morphed into his original self.

"Dorian! Dorian can you hear me?" Mrs. Leech asked as she and Artie helped remove her son from his bonds.

"M-mom?" Dorian was groggy. "Where are we?"

"It's okay kid you're safe now," Eve told them. "These jerks were gonna make you part of their science project!"

"Let's see how they like being lab rats!" Cell shouted. A rousing cry went up from several mutants.

"Solitaire!" Broadband ran in with more mutants. "All the soldiers are either dead or heading for the hills! The X-Men and Misfits are dealing with the Sentinels! We won!"

"We're free!" A blue female mutant with green hair and many scars on her arms cried out.

"A mutant," Kincaid glared at Sinister. "I trusted a **mutant!" **

"That is the least of your problems," Solitaire hissed. "You have hunted, imprisoned and tortured mutants for too long! Now you must pay the price!"

"Wait," Jean said. "You can't kill them! They have to pay for their crimes in a court of law."

"You're joking right?" Eve sneered.

"If we kill them, we're no better than they are," Roberto told her.

"Who cares about being better than anyone?" Broadband snapped. "I just want payback!" A loud chorus of agreement could be heard.

"Do you really think that humans would convict a human, a general for that matter of killing mutants?" Solitaire snapped.

"The law…" Jean began.

"Only applies to humans!" Solitaire snarled.

"Yeah and since this guy is a mutant he should be the first to get it!" Another mutant shouted as he pointed to Sinister. "That'll teach him to experiment on his own kind!"

"Perhaps some other time," Sinister reached for his belt. "But first, I'll leave you with a little parting gift." He pressed a few buttons.

BRRRUUMMMMMM!

"What the…?" Kincaid jerked as the ground shook.

"I had a feeling something like this would happen," Sinister told them. "So I cooked up a little surprise. Farewell for now X-Men. Ta-Tah!" Before anyone could stop him he created an artificial portal and disappeared into it.

"What the hell did he just do?" Eve asked.

One of the other scientists looked at the monitor. "The reactor! It's overloading!"

"The **nuclear **reactor is overloading?" Roberto gasped. "This is **not** good!"

"Nuclear?" Eve's voice went higher. "You mean that jerk intends to nuke us?"

"Not if we get outta here first!" Another mutant shouted. Several mutants were starting to flee, forgetting the soldiers they cornered. Most of the remaining soldiers didn't question their fortune and decided to flee for their lives as well.

"Come on!" Broadband grabbed onto Eve, who held onto Mrs. Leech who was holding onto both Artie and Dorian. He used his powers to take them somewhere far away from Neverland via the communications systems.

"COWARDS!" Kincaid screamed to his retreating troops. "COME BACK HERE!"

"We have to work together if we don't want to cause a meltdown!" Jean told Kincaid.

"Why shouldn't we allow the humans to have what they've been giving us?" Solitaire had steadfastly remained.

"If this station blows up mutants as well as humans will be affected," Xi told him. "Do you really want that to happen?"

Just then someone else teleported in. "Man am I late for the party or what?" Deadpool looked around. "Okay did anyone play Pin the Tail on the Donkey yet? I love that game!"

"Deadpool you idiot this is not the time for games!" Kincaid shouted. "This entire place could turn into Three Mile Island times ten if things aren't taken care of!"

"Sorry General," Deadpool grabbed his arm. "I got my orders. You're wanted by a few people!"

"Not without my vengeance!" Solitaire grabbed onto Kincaid instantly by his other arm.

Deadpool teleported away with Kincaid and Solitaire. "Solitaire!" Xi shouted.

"Amazing the number of people popping in and out of this place," Remy grumbled.

"Who was **that** guy?" Roberto asked.

"Who cares?" Remy said. "Let's get out of here!"

"We can't," Jean said. "We have to stop the reactor from a meltdown!"

"How do we do that?" Xi asked.

"Yeah they didn't exactly teach us that in science class," Roberto said.

"We have to get to the power control room," One scientist told them. "Assess the situation."

"Let's go," Jean said.

"You're helping us?" The scientist was astounded.

"They're helping themselves," Another scientist said. "Even mutants don't like to glow in the dark."

They quickly made their way through the chaos of mutants fleeing in terror and went to the control room. "The main problem is that the control rods have been knocked off skewer. The controls just aren't responding. We need to lower them into the coolant pools in order to get it safely online. If they aren't cooled off…"

"Boom, we got it," Roberto said. "How do we do that?"

"We have to do it manually," Jean said.

"Uh, maybe you haven't noticed but there's like a zillion gobs of radiation in there," Roberto pointed out.

"Don't you get radioactive?" Remy asked.

"Solar radiation," Roberto told him. "There's a difference."

"It's still radiation to me," Remy grumbled.

"It might be enough to protect him," Jean said. "Especially if I use my telekinesis to shield the both of us in there."

"Are you **insane?"** Remy threw open his arms. "Your shield may not be strong enough for the both of you!"

"What choice do we have?" Jean asked him.

"She's right," Xi told him. "We can assist the scientists with the controls."

"What do **you **know about nuclear power plants?" One of the Scientists was startled.

"Between Cobra, Forge and Trinity I know enough of the basics to help," Xi told them.

"Who?" Another scientist asked.

"Don't ask," Remy sighed. "At least put on some kind of suit. You do have a radiation suit or something don't you?" He looked at the scientist.

"Yes, but we'd better hurry," The scientist nodded.

Soon the two of them had suited up and gotten into the core reactor. Roberto changed into his solar form and used his powers to fly and move one of the reactor rods. Jean used her telekinesis to shield him as he moved the control rods. "They're doing it," One scientist was shocked. "They're actually doing it!"

"You'd be surprised at what they can do," Remy told them. "Sunspot watch out!"

Roberto's powers started to fade. "I…I can't hold onto it much longer!" He started to fall. Jean caught him and got him into a large shield around them.

"There's still one rod left! And it's approaching critical mass!" Remy shouted.

"It's gonna blow!" One scientist screamed.

"Not if I can help it!" Jean focused her powers. She strained as she used her telekinesis to both keep the shield around them and move the rod as well. It took all of her strength but she did it. She barely had strength enough to keep the shield up as Roberto dragged her back inside.

"I can't believe we did that," Roberto removed his suit in the changing room and then the two of them wobbled into the main control room.

"Yeah looks like our troubles are over now," Jean sighed.

Then she noticed that both Remy and Xi were unconscious on the floor.

One of the 'scientists' pushed a button on his belt and he morphed into Hairbag. The other scientists did the same, turning into other members of the Marauders. One of the morphed scientists had snuck behind the two of them and knocked them out cold.

"My dear Miss Grey," Sinister grinned as he revealed his true form. "Your troubles haven't even **started** yet."

Meanwhile back outside the Sentinels had been destroyed and both soldiers and mutants were fleeing.

"Into the woods!" One mutant shouted. The mutants fled the building, streaming out as fast as they could. Some of them were able to fly away. Others teleported. The rest grabbed any vehicle they could find. Dozens piled onto trucks and sped out, fleeing in different directions to parts unknown.

Just behind them staggering was Lisa. "So much for mutants sticking together," She grumbled as she leapt onto a nearby jeep and hot-wired it. She sped off alone into the night.

"We won!" Tabitha whooped.

"Well at least Neverland's shut down," Wanda looked at the wreckage.

"Yeah but a lot of the jokers running the place got away," Logan growled. "And whose to say a lot of 'em won't just set up shop somewhere else?"

"What happened to all the survivors?" Amara asked.

"Over there," Rogue pointed to some carriers in the distance. "Saw a whole bunch of 'em take a plane and a couple of 'em take some trucks and jeeps. They all high tailed it outta here."

"And the Leeches probably went with them," Scott sighed. "But where's Jean? And Gambit, Sunspot and Xi? What happened to **them?"**

"Spread out!" Logan ordered. "We're gonna search every inch of this dump until we find them!"

But they were already long gone.


	92. Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here

**Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here**

"Wow," The Kingpin's four-armed henchman Steve whistled. "What a swanky place." He looked at the golden and crystal chandeliers, gold lined walls and huge buffet in the room.

It took all of the Kingpin's self control not to roll his eyes. "The Hellfire Club is one of the most wealthy organizations in the world, Steve. They make Donald Trump and Bill Gates look like paupers. Did you expect any less?"

"Well it didn't look this good on the outside," Steve told him.

"That's why it's called a **secret **organization," Sebastian Shaw told him.

"Oh," Steve said. "Can I hit the buffet?"

"Yes Steve," Kingpin sighed. "I'll join you in a moment." Steve went to the spread happy and was quickly filling each of his four hands with plates loaded with food.

Sebastian Shaw looked at him. "Let me guess, you brought him because he's a mutant in order to impress us?"

"Half right," Kingpin told him. "He was also the only one of my henchmen with more than one brain cell. I must say I am surprised you invited me to join the Hellfire Club after the fiasco with Zartan and Mystique. Which by the way was **not** my fault!"

"Isn't that what your lawyers said?" Shaw smirked.

"I could have handled the Misfits and the X-Men easily," Kingpin told him. "Even when Spiderman and Daredevil showed up it would not have been so catastrophic. But the Punisher and Cobra…"

"Don't get me **started **on Cobra!" Shaw told him. "I'm convinced they're a jinx! Believe me, I know full well that when Cobra is thrown into the mix anything can happen."

"So why did you invite me into your society?" Kingpin asked.

"The Hellfire Club is always forward thinking," Shaw told him. "We need men with vision and organization."

"Despite the fact that I'm human?" Kingpin raised an eyebrow.

"Let's just say Pierce doesn't exactly qualify as human and we could always use one or two more," Shaw grinned. "Tonight's ceremony will be the culmination of decades of preparation. You will be one of the chosen few to witness the beginning of a new era."

Emma Frost walked in wearing a white business suit. "Shaw, our 'guests' have arrived."

"Ah yes," Shaw nodded. "Kingpin I hope you pardon me for a little while. Some important business I need to attend to. Do help yourself to the buffet."

_Like he needs an invitation, _Emma scoffed telepathically. They made their way to the lower chambers to a small dungeon like area. Inside a cell Jean, Remy, Roberto and Xi were just waking up. They had restraining collars on and their hands were chained to the walls.

"I tell you Gambit getting real tired of always being knocked out and tied up," Remy grumbled.

"Now where are we?" Roberto groaned.

"Welcome to the Hellfire Club," Shaw grinned. "I hope you have a pleasant stay."

"I doubt it," Roberto glared at them.

"As you can see Shaw I have brought Miss Grey and her associates as you requested," Sinister walked in with Evan and a young woman in a black uniform with long black hair and strange marks around her eyes.

"Are you sure you can't stay for the Ceremony?" Emma asked. "Even though it's supposed to be for members only I'm sure we can bend the rules."

"Sadly no, I have more important places to be," Sinister sighed. "As much as I'd love to witness the dawn of a new era, thanks to the X-Men and Misfits I have much work to do. Some labs to rebuild, notes to rewrite, witnesses to kill off, you understand?"

"The Hellfire Club in bed with Sinister and Project Neverland," Jean glared at Emma. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Frost will get in bed with anyone," Remy mocked.

"I'd watch that errant tongue if I were you boy," Emma Frost glared at him. "Or else someone might cut it off!"

"What do you want with them?" Evan asked.

"We need Miss Grey for the Ceremony of Ascension," Shaw explained. "She is going to be the Host."

"The what?" Xi asked.

"The Host," Shaw explained. "Or the Oracle, whatever you prefer. Just as the Greeks had their Oracle of Delphi to speak for the will of the gods, Miss Grey will provide the voice for the Phoenix Force."

"What do you mean?" Jean felt very afraid.

"You will use your powers to draw power from the M'kann Crystal, a power known as the Phoenix Force. Through you the Phoenix Force will be used and controlled," Shaw explained. "And the Hellfire Club's power will be absolute. In Ancient Egypt the Host was revered and worshiped just as much as the Pharaoh himself."

"It's a great honor my dear," Emma explained.

"An honor I think I'd rather not have," Jean said. "If it's such an honor why don't **you** do it?"

"Minor law," Emma shrugged. "A member of the Hellfire Club Inner Circle can't be the Host."

"What about your students?" Remy asked.

"Let's just say out of all the candidates you were the most qualified," Shaw said.

"And if I refuse?" Jean asked.

"You won't," Shaw told her. "We'll make sure of that."

"I have a few things to prepare so later on my dear Sage will be responsible for your preparation, Jean," Emma told her. She indicated the stoic young woman. "You two should get along swimmingly. You have so much in common. You were both Xavier's students for starters."

"What?" Jean asked.

"Yes, Sage's real name is Tessa…Something or other," Emma waved. "She was Charles' first student. Before he sent her out into the field to be his little spy she was quite an energetic pupil. But a bit too inexperienced for my power and our other telepaths."

"No…That's…It can't be…" Jean was shocked.

"But it is," Emma said. "Sage has proven to be a quite helpful ally. Once she was properly conditioned."

"Xavier will probably abandon you as he did her," Shaw couldn't resist twisting the knife.

"The Professor would never abandon us!" Jean shouted.

"He told me the same thing," Sage spoke evenly.

A tall man with dark skin, black hair and a moustache and wearing an expensive suit walked in. "You wanted to see me Shaw?" He spoke with a Spanish accent.

"YOU!" Roberto shouted.

"Roberto?" The man gasped. "What is the meaning of this?"

"That's what I'd like to know!" Roberto snapped.

"You know each other?" Evan looked at the two of them.

"He's my father," Roberto glared at him.

"Mr. Emmanuel DaCosta is the Hellfire Club's White Rook," Emma explained. "A very powerful and prominent businessman."

"He's also the jerk who dumped me and my mother so he could go social climbing," Roberto snarled.

"That's a rather simplistic view of things," Mr. DaCosta told him. "Your mother and I had our differences. We just couldn't live together. I made sure the two of you were well provided for."

"Just as long as we never bothered you," Roberto glared at him.

"I had a lot of enemies and I thought it was best not to advertise that I had a son, in order to protect you," Mr. DaCosta said.

"Really?" Emma raised an eyebrow. "You didn't seem to have a problem telling us that you had a mutant son in order to gain your position."

"Un-freaking believable," Roberto shook his head.

"I'm sorry Roberto," His father sighed. "I had hoped you wouldn't learn of this until you were older."

"These are the type of people that you're running with now, Evan?" Roberto asked. "A bunch of psychotics that want to rule the world?"

"Evan I know we've had our differences but you can't be a part of this!" Jean pleaded.

"What do you want me to do Jean?" Evan glared at her. "You have **no **idea what I've been through these past couple of years! Maybe some of their tactics aren't so… Who are you to judge? You guys kicked me out of the Institute? Remember? All for trying to protect the Morlocks!"

"You murdered a man Evan!" Jean snapped.

"Who was trying to kill all mutants so he could make a quick buck!" Evan countered. "Look these people were here for me when it really mattered! I mean, look at me! Sinister made me a serum so that I can walk down the street without people staring at me! I have a life again! So we bend a few laws and hurt people who are trying to kill us? The world isn't as black and white as you think it is! This is about **survival!** Can't you understand that?"

"Just one question," Remy's face was hard. "How many mutants died so you could look normal?"

"What?" Evan asked. "What are you talking about?"

"Think where that serum came from," Remy hissed. "How do you think Sinister perfected it? By taking a survey?"

Realization hit Evan hard. He looked at Sinister. "Is this true?"

"Of course it is," Sinister told him. "One of many I conducted at Neverland. And thank you very much X-Men for destroying it! Do know how hard it is to get subjects in such great numbers and run experiments in perfect conditions? More than half my notes were destroyed! It will take me at least a year to get to where I started from!"

"Too bad," Remy mocked.

Evan turned on Shaw. "You didn't say anything about that! You said you were going to help mutants! Not experiment on them!"

"I don't like it either," Emma's face was hard as well.

"You know as well as I sacrifices have to be made," Shaw told her. "For the greater good. You don't have to like it."

"Just don't interfere with my work," Sinister told her.

"Wanna bet?" Evan growled and popped out some spikes on his arm.

"Before you let sentimentality cloud your judgement, I want you to think very carefully," Shaw told him. "Think of what you'd be giving up. Not just the power and the prestige…As well as a high school diploma…But your life would literally be over."

"Without that serum you would return to that state which we found you," Sinister told him. "Unable to control your mutation. Rejected and hunted by human society. Only this time there would be nowhere else for you to turn."

"You can't go back to the Morlocks," Shaw said. "And obviously the X-Men wouldn't take you back. And I know the Misfits wouldn't want you. So who's left? Magneto? Oh wait, you rejected him too."

"Don't forget some of the services you've provided for the Hellfire Club," Emma added. "Without our protection you would probably end up in jail, if you were lucky."

"And what would happen to your parents?" Shaw asked.

"My parents?" Evan's face grew pale. "What about my parents?"

"Who do you think gave them that new house? Managed to pull strings for your father and get him that cushy job so they could start a new life?" Emma asked. "Are you really willing to throw **their** future away to help your former friends? People who didn't understand you? Your actions have consequences Evan. It's not just about you anymore."

"I know it's difficult my dear boy," Sinister put his hand on his shoulder. "But try to think of it this way, I have done many of these same experiments on myself. And most of my subjects were either willing or grateful for the procedures I had…"

"Yeah right!" Remy snarled.

"Think about what will happen to your **family,"** Sinister made a hideous smile. "**All** the members of your family."

Evan was stunned. Sinister telepathically warned him in a private exchange. _"I'm sure you wouldn't want anything to happen to your daughter **or** her mother. Or any of the New York Morlocks. Why do you think I made sure the GRSO didn't target any of them?" _

Evan was stunned. "You wouldn't…" He said softly.

_"Just do as you're told and no harm will come to them," _Sinister warned. _"Most of them aren't worth experimenting on anyway…But do you really want to take a chance?" _

"Evan, please…" Jean begged, unaware of what was going on.

"There isn't any choice," Evan said softly. He looked at the captive X-Men. "I've got nowhere else to go." He turned his back on them and walked over to the Hellions.

"That not supposed to matter," Remy told him. "What's supposed to matter is what the right thing to do is!"

"I don't know **where **you got this streak of morality," Sinister clucked his tongue. "You certainly didn't inherit it from me that's for sure."

"Inherit?" Xi blinked. "Wait…When I touched you…I sensed some of your DNA was familiar but…" Xi looked at Remy.

"He's…Your father?" Jean gasped. Remy hung his head in shame. "But I thought you were an orphan?"

"So did Remy," Remy growled. "All Remy remembers as a child is trying to stay alive on the streets before Remy was adopted into the Thieves Guild."

"It's a long story," Sinister waved his hand. "Here's the cliff notes version. I wanted an heir but there was…An incident at one of my labs when the boy was only four. Apparently somehow he lost his memory in the explosion but escaped. I thought he was dead and didn't learn about his adoption into the Thieves Guild until years later. I decided to leave him there, I mean what father wouldn't want his boy to learn a trade? When his powers finally revealed themselves in a rather messy affair at the church…I sought him out. I thought it was time for the boy to learn the family business."

"Remy will never be **anything** like you," Remy growled.

"Sadly my boy, I am starting to believe that," Sinister sighed. "Not only do you not have any scientific aptitude…Well I did state that moral streak you acquired is quite problematic. Not that I haven't tried to cure you of that."

Remy couldn't help but shudder at the memory. "That's why you sold me out to Magneto."

"Sold you? But you said…" Roberto began.

"Since when do you believe everything Gambit **says?"** Evan told him.

"He was telling you the truth that Magneto managed to get Gambit out of my employ into his," Sinister said. "He just neglected to tell you the details. He needed an extra mutant recruit; I needed various genetic samples and equipment. Now that I think about it, I got the better end of the deal."

"Madre Dios…" Roberto gasped.

"I don't seem so bad now do I?" Mr. DaCosta asked his son.

"Well hasn't this turned into a real father-son reunion," Shaw remarked.

"You're not going to…" Mr. DaCosta looked at Shaw.

"I told you DaCosta, your son will be spared," Shaw held up his hands. "After the ceremony he'll be given the proper attitude adjustment and join Frost's Hellions."

"The hell I will!" Roberto snapped. "Forget it!"

"Actually **you'll** be the one doing the forgetting," Emma told him. "With Jean's help if all goes well."

"I'll never help you!" Jean strained against her bonds.

"That's what she said too," Emma pointed at Sage.

"The other two however are expendable," Shaw looked at Remy and Xi. "We can use them as sacrifices for the ceremony."

"Remy really not liking this," Remy grumbled.

"Pity," Sinister shrugged. "I so would have enjoyed working with their DNA. But then again like I said it's a trade off."

"You can always take what's left of their bodies," Emma shrugged.

"I suggest you make yourselves comfortable," Shaw told them. "Enjoy what little time you have left. It won't be long."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"I can't believe we lost them **again!"** Scott slammed his fist into the wall.

"Scott calm down," Althea told him. The Misfits were with the X-Men at the Institute.

"How can I be calm when Jean's in trouble?" Scott whirled on her.

"Don't forget Remy and Roberto," Rogue snapped at him. "The world doesn't revolve around Jean you know?"

"And we're missing Xi," Althea added. "But we have to stay calm and think. Running around like chickens with our heads cut off won't help anyone."

"You're right," Scott sighed. "I know you're right…It's just…"

"I know how you feel, Scott," Althea said.

"Well I'm also thinking about that whole Phoenix business," Scott told her. "This could be tied to it!"

"I'm pretty sure you're right," Xavier told them. "I can't find a trace of them with Cerebro. And Forge's device is wrecked beyond salvation."

"And we can't make another without wrecking Cerebro even more," Forge explained.

"Even if we had Cerebro up and running they could still be shielded," Kitty frowned. "This is so not good."

"Yeah we don't know who has 'em or where they are!" Todd said. Just then Lockheed started to growl.

"Yeah, I smell it too boy…" Logan unsheathed his claws.

"Maybe the situation is not as hopeless as you believe it to be," Selene stepped out of the shadows. "I think I might be able to point you in the right direction."


	93. Unlikely Allies Come In All Forms

**Unlikely Allies Come in All Forms**

"YOU!" Scott snarled at Selene. "What are **you **doing here?"

"I came to help," Selene held up her hands.

"Yeah right!" Logan snorted. "I'm not gonna even ask how you got past our security systems but I'd be happy to show you how to leave through 'em!"

"Look this might come as a surprise but even evil immortal sorceresses like to draw the line at the Earth going up in a ball of flames!" She snapped. "Particularly when said evil immortal sorcerers have just finished redecorating all fifty seven of her secret lairs and palaces!"

"Fifty seven?" Angelica blinked.

"I like to travel and I'm not that big on hotels, okay? Do you want to find your friends or not?" Selene asked.

"She's right," Xavier said. "Selene is our only hope of finding the others."

"Maybe," Logan growled. "But I don't have to like it."

"The feeling is mutual," Selene glared at him. "Fortunately for you the Hellfire Club and their stupid plan to harness the Phoenix Force is much higher on my priority list."

"Not to mention a little payback for them kicking you out?" Althea folded her arms.

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Selene looked at her.

"Where's Jean?" Scott demanded.

"At the Hellfire Club's inner sanctum in New York City," Selene told him.

"And where is that?" Logan asked. "The Hellfire Club don't usually advertise."

"Fifth Avenue on the Upper East Side, near Central Park," Selene told him. "I believe you have all heard of Black Friar's Club?"

"No," Todd shook his head.

"No," Ray said.

"Nope," Fred thought.

"Never heard of 'em," Lance said.

"Total blank here," Bobby admitted.

"Let me rephrase that," Selene sighed. "Those of you who have more than **one **brain cell have heard of the Black Friar's Club?"

"Sorry, but I've never heard of them either," Rogue admitted. None of the kids did.

"I've heard of the Friar's Club but not the Black Friar's Club," Logan admitted.

"Oh for crying out loud!" Selene groaned. "I know it's not exactly your circle but **one **of you must have heard of them! The adults? Worthington? Storm? Xavier? Come on! I know the club has had a little trouble with membership lately but this is ridiculous!"

"Wait Upper East Side? The large mansion with all the roses in front?" Xavier asked. "And the gargoyles on the west wing?"

"Yes!" Selene told him. "**That's** the one!"

"That's what the BFC on the gates stand for?" Xavier asked. "I always thought it was some kind of retired bankers club."

"I heard it was some kind of retirement home," Warren shrugged. "I mean I've gone past it but I've hardly ever seen anyone under 80 around the grounds."

"Well, it's a very exclusive club…On the outside," Selene sighed. "Perhaps a little **too** exclusive. It's a cover for the Hellfire Club's activities. I still can't believe none of you have ever heard of it. It was the most sought after club to be in since the 1940's."

"Sounds like its membership hasn't changed since the 1940's," Rogue folded her arms.

"I always told Shaw we needed better publicity," Selene sighed. "Anyway it's one of the oldest buildings in the city and that's where they are!"

"Then that's where we're going!" Shipwreck said. "Where is it again?"

"I am so glad I got thrown out of that club…" Selene put her head in her hands. "If I wasn't immortal I'd die from embarrassment."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Cobra Commander!" A Cobra Lackey ran into the Cobra throne room. "News! The Hellfire Club is planning some kind of secret ceremony tonight! It has to do with the M'Krann Crystal and a rumored power."

"What sort of power?" Destro was there as well standing by the throne where Cobra Commander sat.

"It is called the Phoenix Force and it is rumored to be extremely powerful sir."

"Really?" Cobra Commander thought. "I think we shall pay the Hellfire Club a visit."

"Of course my dear Cobra Commander," Destro grinned. "And while we are there we shall obtain this Phoenix Force for the glory of Cobra!"

"Exactly noble Destro," Cobra Commander nodded. "That power rightfully belongs to us."

"It does?" The clueless lackey asked.

"Well technically no, but that's never stopped us before!" Cobra Commander laughed.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Isn't this where we came in?" Roberto sighed as he rattled his chains.

"I missed this part," Xi told him. "Actually I could have missed it again."

"Remy I'm sorry," Jean told Remy as they sat in their cell. "No wonder you never wanted to talk about your past with Sinister."

"Yeah," Roberto sighed. "Not that my old man is such a prize either, but geeze…"

"It's our present that concerns Remy more right now," Remy grumbled.

"Just as well since most of you won't have a future," Pierce swaggered up to the bars with Sage behind him.

"What do you want Pierce?" Roberto snapped.

"It's time for Miss Grey's attitude to be adjusted," Pierce grinned. "Now if…AAGGGHHH!" Suddenly his arm seemed to short circuit and he had a slight seizure. He fell to the ground unconscious.

"You have no idea how long I have wanted to do that," Sage grinned as she deftly took the keys from Pierce's pocket and unlocked the cell door. "We don't have much time. We need to get you out of here now!"

"Wait, Sage? Gambit thought you were brainwashed?" Remy asked.

"Not exactly," Sage said. "I managed to seal off the smallest part of my mind from them. Just enough to convince the Hellfire Club I was under their control."

"So all this time you've been like a double agent?" Roberto asked as Sage removed their control collars.

"Yes, although not in the way I originally planned," Sage nodded. "Eventually I realized I had to allow myself to be…coerced to some degree in order to gain Shaw's trust. It's an old telepathic trick. To brainwash oneself and forget about your mission until a certain time or a certain phrase is said. Or if something more important arises."

"So when you realized they planned to brainwash me…" Jean frowned.

"My subconscious released me from my programming. This way…" Sage told them. Soon they were fleeing the cell and navigating the winding corridors.

"You learned that trick from Xavier, am I correct?" Xi asked.

"Part of it," Sage told him. "The rest was natural talent if I do say so myself."

"Halt!" Three armed guards charged at them.

Before anyone could do anything Warpath showed up. "Hold it guys!" He held up his hand. "Leave them to me!"

"You sure you can handle them?" One guard asked.

"Yeah I think I got the situation under control," Warpath nodded. Then he punched out the one guard. Before the other two could react he took them out too. "Like I thought, no problem!"

"Warpath?" Jean asked. "You helped us. Why?"

"I can't do this anymore," Warpath told them. "Taking down FOH scum is one thing, but experimenting and using other mutants…This isn't what my brother would have wanted."

"How did you…?" Roberto asked.

"Spyke told the other Hellions what was going down," Warpath explained. "Let's just say I handed in my resignation. Come on!" They ran down the corridor, taking out guards that attacked them.

It wasn't long before they came into contact with the Hellions. "I told you he'd be helping them escape!" Bevatron snapped. He had a black eye.

Emma and Pierce were behind them. Pierce was carrying a huge weapon. "Don't do this Warpath."Emma said. "You don't want to be our enemy."

"This isn't what I signed up for Frost," Warpath growled.

"I knew you were never fully under our control!" Pierce pointed at Sage.

"So let's take 'em down!" Beef roared.

"You heard Shaw's orders!" Evan told them. "You can't hurt Jean!"

**"But I can hurt you**!" Jean gave a violent telekinetic shove at Evan, pushing him and the Hellions into the wall.

"Forget them! Watch out for the…" Warpath warned but it was too late. Pierce activated the weapon, which emitted a loud sound that caused the mutants to scream, hold onto their heads and knock them unconscious.

"That was rather anti-climatic," Emma snorted.

"Looks like we've got two more sacrifices for the ceremony," Pierce grinned. "So be it."


	94. Hellfire and Brimstone Part I

**Hellfire and Brimstone Part I**

"Warpath, to say I am disappointed in you is an understatement," Emma sighed. Once again the X-Men and Xi had been captured and were bound tightly with shackles and restraining collars. This time both Sage and Warpath were with them. The Hellions and the Inner Circle were in the room as well.

"Not half as disappointed as I am in you guys not only condoning mutant experimentation, but funding it!" Warpath snarled.

"Somebody's been telling tales," Pierce glared at Evan.

"He would have found out anyway," Shaw intervened. "Better we know his intentions now than further down the road. What about the rest of you?"

"I don't really like it either but…" Monet hesitated. "You must have your reasons."

"Catseye will not go against Ms. Frost," Catseye shook her head.

"Neither will I," Yvonne spoke. "We may not like it but we will do whatever she asks us to. The two of us owe her too much."

"The rest of us are fine with this," Bevatron said.

"Yeah, who cares what happens to lower evolved mutants?" Beef shrugged. "As long as it ain't us."

"You guys really have joined the Dark Side haven't you?" Roberto snapped.

"Better than joining the menu on a barbecue," Bevatron snorted.

"What do you mean?" Jean asked.

"After the ceremony the Oracle of the Phoenix tends to get a bit…" Shaw paused. "Hyper."

"In other words we're going to be sacrificed," Sage told them.

"Correction, they are going to be sacrificed. With the exception of Young Mr. DaCosta for obvious reasons. And you my dear Sage are far too valuable to sacrifice," Shaw held her face in his hand. "Hellions! Take her away to our Manhattan offices! I'll deal with her later."

"Don't you need us for the ceremony?" Evan asked.

"This ceremony is only for the grown ups," Pierce sneered.

"Then how come **you're** staying?" Evan challenged.

"That's enough **children**," Shaw spoke in a tone that implied Pierce was more a Hellion than a member of the Inner Circle. "We have a ceremony to prepare for. And Miss Grey needs to get ready."

"I won't help you," Jean said defiantly.

"Yeah like you have a choice," Emma took out a syringe and jabbed it into Jean's arm. Jean twitched for a second then passed out.

"What did you do to her?" Remy strained against his bonds.

"Just a little something to keep her calm until we need her," Emma said. "And while I'm at it…" She jammed the same drug into Sage. "I don't exactly trust her awake now either. Now take Sage back to my office and wait there until the ceremony is over. I'll deal with Ms.Grey personally."

"But what about the X-Men and Misfits?" Evan asked. "You know sooner or later they're gonna figure out where we are somehow."

"Don't worry," Shaw told them. "Even if they do show up, we'll be ready for them."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Anybody else think it's weird that Selene just up and left after telling us about this place?" Kitty muttered as she looked at the Black Friar's Club building.

"Something tells me that doing actual work isn't her style," Logan growled.

"We're going to split into two groups," Xavier said. He was dressed in a white tuxedo. "Cyclops, Storm, Psylocke, Quicksilver, Colossus, Cover Girl and Low Light will join me in the frontal assault."

"Some frontal assault," Althea remarked. Xavier's group was very well dressed in fine clothing. "It looks like you're going to attack the Emmys."

"That show could use an improvement like that," Betsy quipped.

"Uh, this is gonna sound like a dumb question," Todd held up his hand.

"Coming from you they usually are," Bobby said.

"But ain't those Hellfire guys gonna recognize you the second you walk through that door?" Todd continued. He looked at Bobby. "And coming from the King of Dumb Questions that's not much of an insult."

"Yeah we're experts on that and that was pretty lame," Pietro added.

"Oh sorry I have offended you, O Lord of Lameness," Bobby glared at him.

"Now **that **one was pretty good," Todd admitted.

"Before we continue on the Name Calling Contest of the Decade," Wanda raised her hand to interrupt them. "Can we let Xavier answer because frankly for once Toad has a good point."

"Psylocke and I will psychically shield our team to make it appear like we are other people," Xavier told her. He pointed to a huge map on the monitor. "While we search the building we'll be in psychic link with the second wave. Wolverine, Beast, Wavedancer, Toad, Blob, Avalanche, Scarlet Witch, Spirit, Shadowcat, Rogue, Firestar, Iceman, Nightcrawler, X-23 and Roadblock will be the second wave. You will travel here, through the sewers and attack underground."

"Of course we'd get the fun job," Lance said sarcastically.

"Believe me I'd rather be down in the sewers than in this getup," Low Light grumbled.

"Angel, Shipwreck you and the remaining members of both teams will stay at the Institute in case of an attack or if we need backup," Xavier ordered.

"Fine with me," Warren shrugged. "As long as Shipwreck stays away from the alcohol."

"Hey I can be sober when I want to," Shipwreck defended.

"And when is **that?"** Polly cackled.

"Keep it up Sharkbait," Shipwreck glared at him. "Just keep it up."

"I can monitor your progress from back here," Arcade told them. "I might even be able to hack into the Hellfire Club's computer system if I get a link."

"You can use these," Forge showed them some small chips. "It's something I've been working on. A portable hacking device. Just insert or attach into any security system or computer and boom! Instant access."

"I just hope these things work better than your more recent inventions," Ororo took one. Forge handed both teams a few of them.

"Yeah especially your water purification thingy that made those giant mutant fish," Fred chuckled.

"Or your Middleverse machine," Kurt added.

"Or the lie detector," Kitty added.

"Or your healing ray that not only turned Storm and Shipwreck into teenagers but gave me a multiple personality complex!" Scott added.

"The toaster you 'fixed'," Rogue pointed out. "You know the one that set the curtains on fire."

"The other ray you made when those stupid giant seagulls trashed the Danger Room," Logan added.

"I wasn't too thrilled with the Electric Boomerangs you made for the Danger Room either," Kitty added.

"Oh man I hated those!" Rogue added. "Not to mention that mouse detector and ray gun that made all those holes in the walls."

"Don't forget the shrink ray, yo!" Todd called out. A collective groan was heard from the group.

"I almost forgot about **that** fiasco!" Scott groaned.

"Oh Lord I couldn't forget that if I tried," Hank rolled his eyes. "And believe me I've tried!"

"Okay! Okay! So I've had a few setbacks! **I get it!"** Forge snapped. "But these will definitely work! I promise!"

"I got another question," Todd held up his hand. "Why is the sewer group larger than the Fancy Scmancy group? Why so many people?"

"The Hellfire Club has a lot of resources," Logan told him. "And I mean a lot. Expect at least some kind of heavy defense systems."

"Didn't Selene give us some kind of override codes?" Althea asked.

"She did but she also warned us the Hellfire Club may have changed them by now," Scott told her.

"But why is your group so small?" Kitty asked. "I'd like to wear a fancy dress too."

"We don't want to attract too much attention to ourselves," Ororo explained to her.

"And I can run around that place in seconds," Pietro told them. "I can do a lot faster recon than if we sent in more people."

"Hopefully we can find the others and free them before you arrive," Xavier said.

"Still makes me a little uneasy Charles," Logan shook his head.

"Don't worry Logan," Scott said. "We can handle whatever the Hellfire Club throws at us. It's not going to be a problem."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"And I thought my mansion back in England was posh," Psylocke looked around at the gold covered walls.

"It's certainly a lot more flashy than the outside," Cover Girl remarked. Except for Pietro the group was calmly making their way through the huge building. Pietro had run ahead to see what he could find. "Has Quicksilver found anything?"

"It's hard to say," Xavier frowned. "For some reason it's harder than usual to keep focused on his mind."

"Normally I'd make a joke on how much of a mind Quicksilver has," Low Light remarked. "But in this case I'd say it had something to do with the fact there are other telepaths here."

"They could have placed some kind of psychic barrier around the building," Xavier frowned. "That would explain why I could not scan this place with Cerebro."

"Well isn't that lovely?" Cover Girl groaned.

"Hey guys! Come to the lower east wing…" Cover Girl's communicator crackled with Pietro's voice. "I found something!"

"Maybe it's Jean!" Scott said. They moved quickly to another room.

"Careful Scott it could be a trap," Betsy warned.

"I don't think so," Scott said. Just then an iron door slammed shut behind them. "On the other hand…"

Some gas seeped in through the vents. "They're gonna gas us!" Betsy yelled.

"So much for the subtle approach!" Scott used his optic blasts to hit the nearest wall. He crashed a hole right through it. They stumbled through the hole into the next room.

Shaw, Emma, Pierce and Leland were there waiting for them. Pietro was there tied up. "Sorry guys," He gulped. "I kind of tripped over something…"

"I told you they'd come this way," Emma smirked.

"Fine I owe you a coke," Leland raised his hands.

Peter charged at them. He changed into his armored form. "Where are our friends you…BOZSHIE MOI!" Suddenly he fell down flat on his face. "I…I cannot move."

"Our dear Mr. Leland here has the mutant ability to control gravity," Emma remarked. "He can make anything as heavy or as light as he wishes for as long as he wishes."

"And our dear Ms. Frost has placed barriers on our minds so don't bother using your telepathy to attack us," Pierce grinned.

"Did you really think you could take me on?" Shaw grinned. "That the Hellfire Club wouldn't be prepared for you and your students and their freak friends?"

"We're not down yet!" Scott shouted as he started to attack with Betsy and Ororo. They all crashed straight to the floor. "Okay…Maybe we are…"

"This is the best you can do?" Shaw sneered at Xavier. "Honestly Xavier, I expected more of a challenge."

"You wanna challenge?" Low Light snapped. "Fine!" He changed his body to pure energy and went straight for Shaw. "**Here's **a challenge!" He tackled him.

"Senseless violence," Leland sighed. "Oh how I loathe it. Do you want me to put the kibosh on them too?"

"Come on Leland," Pierce grabbed Cover Girl. "Let me have some fun! Struggle all you like woman, my arm is pure machine! You'll never break loose!"

"Your arm may be metal, but I'll bet another part of your body isn't!" Cover Girl struggled.

"Yeah?" Pierce grinned. Then his face turned into an expression of absolute pain as she proved her point. "MOMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" He let go and doubled over.

"I've wanted to do that for years," Emma chuckled. "And this too." She changed into her diamond form and knocked out Cover Girl with one punch. "This is already turning into the best night I've had in months."

Shaw was grappling with Low Light. "Normally…my powers only involve kinetic energy…" Shaw gritted his teeth as he sweated. "It makes me stronger, faster, more powerful…"

"Yeah? Do they ever help you shut your mouth?" Low Light hit Shaw rapidly.

Shaw staggered for a moment. Then grinned. "Your energy form may sting me a lot, but when you hit me…That really **helps!"** He shot out his fist straight into Low Light. It slammed him into the wall and knocked him out.

"Whoa…" Pietro was shocked.

"Not bad for a rich guy eh?" Shaw snickered. "Xavier for years you've been a thorn in my side. And now… Now I'm going to cut you out."

"We're not defeated yet," Xavier glared at him. "Tell me where Jean and the others are."

"Or what? You'll look at us to death?" Pierce snickered. "Hey…is it getting colder in here or is it just me?"

Ororo was creating a strong bitter cold wind with her powers. "I do not need to move my body to bring you to your knees!" She shouted. The wind grew stronger and colder. Soon it was a mini blizzard in the room.

"Somebody knock her unconscious!" Pierce yelled as he held on to the wall for dear life.

"Gladly!" Emma managed to move over to Ororo thanks to her more resilient diamond form and do so.

"STORM!" Xavier shouted.

"You were saying?" Shaw gloated at Xavier.

"Note it was the Joes that lasted longer than most ofthe X-Men," Leland pointed out. "Even the woman put up more of a fight than your team!"

"It's not as if they were at full strength," Emma pointed out. "You know that Wolverine and the others are sniffing around the grounds somewhere. I sense several mutant presences in the sewers."

"An appropriate place for them if there was one," Pierce tended to his damaged arm.

"True, but by the time they get through a few…obstacles I've placed the ceremony will be over," Shaw grinned. "So you see Xavier this was really quite pointless. But if you really want to see Miss Grey and the others, I think I can arrange it."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"I really love my job sometimes," Bobby said sarcastically as the second team combed the sewers.

"You think you have it bad, try doing this with an enhanced sense of smell," Rina grunted.

"Hey this should be a piece of cake," Bobby shrugged. "I mean how tough can this Hellfire Club be if they leave the sewers unguarded?"

"Hold up!" Logan held out his hand. "Something's out there."

Rolling towards them were several large metal balls. Those metal balls turned into some bizarre kind of attack droids. Behind them floated over fifty flying droids. "I think I've just figured out why they left the sewers alone," Todd gulped.

"This is not good," Lance grumbled as the machines started to attack.

"Me and my big mouth," Bobby groaned.


	95. Hellfire and Brimstone Part II

**Hellfire and Brimstone Part II**

"**This **is where the Hellfire Club has their headquarters?" Cobra Commander scoffed as he looked at the building from a van parked across from the Black Friar's Building. "It looks like a retirement home for wealthy bankers!"

"You must admit it is a rather clever cover," Destro told him. "Are our troops ready?"

The Crimson Guard twins Xamot and Tomax were in the same van as well. "All is ready…" Xamot said.

"And awaiting your orders," Tomax told him.

"Sir! We're getting a signal of some kind on our mutant detection devices," A trooper in the van pointed to a device.

"Considering that the majority of the Hellfire Club is composed of mutants that's pretty likely," Cobra Commander said sarcastically.

"No sir, the signal is coming from underneath us," The trooper explained. "A large number of them in the sewers."

"Engage Cobra Bugs," Destro ordered. "Switch to visual mode."

They watched as the mutants were encountered by several robot troops underneath he sewers. "Attack robots in the sewers," Cobra Commander thought. "That's not a bad idea. Should remember that. You know what this means?"

"The Hellfire Club watches a lot of Star Wars movies?" The Clueless Trooper asked. "Cause seriously those things look exactly like the battle droids used in Episode Three on General Grevious's ship."

"No you fool!" Cobra Commander snapped. "While the mutants are distracting the Hellfire Club we shall burst through the front door unopposed! And besides looking at the markings those things look more like they were in the original series than the newer batch of the saga. I mean seriously, who paints a destructive robotic death machine **gray **nowadays? It's such a monotonous color!"

"I have a better plan," Destro stopped him. "Why not let the mutants do all the fighting? We follow them from a discreet distance. Then when they make their way to where the crystal is being held we swoop in and grab it while those fools fight amongst themselves?"

"Brilliant plan," Cobra Commander smirked beneath his cowl. "I'm glad I thought of it."

"Yes it is…" Destro sighed.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"This does not look good," Hank gulped as he dodged the laser fire from one of the attack droids.

"No it doesn't," Logan sliced one droid open with his claws. "Okay! Everyone…Use basic attacks and stay together! We gotta outfight these things!"

"AVALANCHE! MANUEVER 25!" Althea shouted as she readied her powers, gathering up a huge amount of water from the sewer floor. "READY?"

"GOT IT!" Lance steadied his focus. Both mutants prepared to use their powers at the same time. The others saw this and quickly got out of the way.

"HIT THE DECK!" Todd yelled.

"What are they gonna do?" Rina asked as Angelica yanked her out of the way.

"Trust me, you don't wanna be on the wrong end of this!" Angelica told her. "Okay! Let it rip!"

"EARTHQUAKE TSUNAMI!" Both yelled as they let loose a huge combined force of a tidal wave and earthquake at the same time. The combined power crushed every machine in their path. When the water receded away all the machines was destroyed.

"Or we could just let Wavedancer and Avalanche do…Whatever it is they just did…" Hank blinked.

"Works for me," Roadblock shrugged.

"Okay, I admit it," Logan said. "I'm impressed."

"Whoa…" Kurt's jaw dropped. "Since when could you guys do **that?"**

"We've been practicing combining our attacks," Lance told him. "We came up with that one the last time Quicksilver doused us with some water balloons."

"Note the fact we come up with more ways to destroy things when we're trying to destroy each other," Roadblock mentioned. "Now let's go get our brothers! And…Jean."

"Look! I think that attack broke through a wall over here!" Todd hopped towards the end. A burst of laser fire forced him to hop back. "AAAAHHHHH!"

"Something tells me we found the Hellfire Club's basement," Logan groaned.

"What was your first clue?" Rogue snapped as she charged ahead, tacking several surprised and wet guards. The mutants soon joined into the fray.

"Hey guys! Chill out!" Bobby said using his powers to freeze the water covering the room. Several guards slipped and fell. Bobby also used his powers to freeze the water on the guards.

"Can't…move…" One guard gasped.

"Well that was fun," Wanda sighed. "These guys didn't last ten minutes."

"Either we're getting better or these guys are just plain sloppy," Fred remarked.

"What is this place anyway?" Kurt asked. It seemed to be a sterile white room filled with a lot of plans, computers and equipment.

"Looks like their lab," Angelica remarked. "And isn't that…?" She pointed to a half-completed very familiar device.

"A Bio-Pulse prototype," Althea frowned as she looked at the device.

"And plans too," Fred took the plans from a desk and stuffed them down his shirt. "Finder's keepers!"

"Here," Althea gave Hank one of the devices Forge gave them. "Find a computer and put this in it. Maybe Arcade can figure this out and find our friends."

"I will comply," Hank nodded. "Ah here's one now." He put the device into the computer. "And presto…All right Arcade the rest is up to you."

"And hopefully this thing won't blow up in our faces like Forge's other experiments," Kurt remarked.

"And if that fails I've got a more practical solution. Okay," Logan grabbed one frozen guard by the neck. "Where are our friends? You know the mutants you captured from Neverland?"

"I ain't telling you nothing, dirtbag," The guard snarled.

Logan just grinned and shot out his claws very close to the guard's face. Two seconds later…

"They're in the Ceremonial Chamber on the Third Floor," The guard squealed rapidly. "Second door on the right, it has a big phoenix carved in wood on it. Watch out for the fifth step it squeaks and there's also an infrared laser so it'd alert the 120 guards stationed on that floor. They're armed with lasers with a 123 repeat caliber and bayonets fixed on the end. They've also got grenades, knives, and some of them have tasers. There's also some electrified panels three feet in but can be deactivated using the security code 9171666 on the pad hidden by the picture of this really ugly old woman in black. A guy named Doug has the manual key around his neck and there are some guard dogs we keep around the perimeter but as long as you feed them something they won't bother you."

"See what happens when you are polite?" Roadblock smirked. "Okay creep say goodnight!"

"Huh?" The guard blinked. Logan drew in his claws before punching the guard in the face. "Goodnight…" He passed out cold.

"Hey guys!" Arcade's voice came in through their communicators. "I've managed to hack in the schematics of the building. I can even shut down a few security sensors. The coordinates should be patched into your wrist communicators."

"Yup," Rogue looked at her device. "This map's clearer than spring water. Our friends are straight above us."

"And all that's standing in our way are about a dozen Hellfire Club members and a bazillion guards," Bobby said. "No pressure."

"Come on!" Logan roared. "We're taking this place down!"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Oohh," Cover Girl stirred. "What hit me?" She found herself bound to a large altar with most of her teammates as well as the first squad. "What the…?"

"Welcome back to the Land of the Living," Shaw smirked. He was wearing large red and black ceremonial robes. "For the present anyway."

"Xavier?" Cover Girl looked around. "Remy! Xi! You guys okay?"

"We're trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey on an altar and are about to be killed," Remy told her. "Just fine, how are you?"

"This place looks like a rejected set from Raiders of the Lost Ark," Scott groaned. The walls were covered in hieroglyphs. There was a huge stone floor with several marks within a large circle. Many members of the Hellfire Club were taking their place within the circle. The M'Krann crystal was in the middle of the room on a pedestal.

"I told you I felt an earthquake!" Leland said to the others.

"It's probably your own feet after scarfing down the buffet," Pierce snapped. "Although I admit you had more competition than usual this time."

"Is that a fat joke directed at me?" The Kingpin glared at him.

"No, I was referring to another two ton criminal mastermind!" Pierce snarled.

"Boss, can I hit him?" Steve asked.

"Later Steve," Kingpin told him.

"What is this?" Ororo looked around. "My powers!" The mutants were all wearing restraining collars."

"What are they gonna do to us?" Betsy struggled to get free.

"You don't want to know," Roberto called out to them. He and Pietro were tightly restrained and on the sidelines.

"I believe the Hellfire Club plans to kill us in a ritualistic fashion," Xavier frowned.

"Oh is **that** all?" Betsy groaned.

"Except for Sunspot and Quicksilver," Shaw explained.

"Why not him?" Pietro indicated Roberto with his head. "He doesn't do much."

"Neither do you but we keep you around," Xi glared at him.

Roberto explained to Pietro. "My Dad over there is one of the Hellfire Club's Elite. I just found out a few hours ago!"

"You have my deepest sympathy," Pietro told him. "But why me? Not that I'm not grateful…"

"Odds are you probably aren't," Roberto grumbled.

"To use you as a bargaining chip against your father of course," Shaw snorted.

"Of course," Pietro sighed. "You sure there's not enough room for one more sacrifice over there? I mean I could probably squeeze in there somehow."

"Sir!" A guard ran in. "We have reports of fighting in the corridors! The X-Men and Misfits have entered the building and they are almost to the third floor!"

"What?" Shaw shouted.

"How did they get in the building so fast?" Pierce snapped.

"I knew your stupid machines couldn't cut it!" Leland glared at him.

"We have to start the ceremony now!" Shaw told him. "Bring in the Oracle!"

Jean walked in led by a female guard. She had a blank look on her face. "JEAN!" Scott called out.

"Jean it's us! Can't you hear us?" Ororo shouted.

"Don't bother," Shaw said as the female guard guided Jean to stand in the middle of the circle right behind the crystal. "She can't hear you."

"It's amazing what a little telepathic mind control combined with some powerful drugs can accomplish," Emma grinned.

"Let the ceremony begin," Shaw called out.


	96. Arise Phoenix Arise

**Arise Phoenix Arise**

"Jean! Jean!" Xavier called out to Jean who was still in her trance. "Wake up!"

"There's nothing you can do, Charles," Shaw told him. "She's completely under our control and ready to fufill her destiny. This prophecy has been around for thousands of generations. Even our Founding Fathers knew all about it and revered it. That's not an eagle on the floor of the Oval Office. It's a Phoenix."

"No it's not," Steve spoke out. "Its an eagle."

"For once young Steve is correct," The Kingpin said. "I've been to the Oval Office and it indeed is an eagle."

"He's right boss," Leland said. "It's an eagle."

"Well it was supposed to be a phoenix," Shaw glared at him.

"It doesn't matter what it's supposed to be," Kingpin told him. "It's what it is that matters. And it's an eagle."

"If Ben Franklin had his way it would have been a turkey," Steve said aloud.

"WHO CARES?" Shaw snapped. "The point is this prophecy has been around for ages! It even goes all the way back to the Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt."

"Rama Tut and En Saba Nur," Xavier frowned.

"Yes," Shaw nodded. "But Alien technology wasn't the only thing that descended from the stars, the power of the Phoenix was there as well. In this crystal. In those days they picked their most highly trained priestesses to serve as its host, channeling its power. I think your Miss Grey will do rather nicely."

"Why **her?"** Roberto shouted. "You've got a ton of other telepaths working for you!"

"Well not that many," Shaw smirked. "But Sinister assured us that your Miss Grey was the most genetically compatible for our project."

"Sinister…" Remy growled.

"You can't do this!" Roberto strained against his bonds.

"Quiet boy," Pierce sneered. "Just be grateful that you are not also going to be sacrificed in the blood rite, thanks to your father!"

"Blood rite?" Roberto gasped. "You're going to kill them?"

"Technically **she** is going to kill them," Emma pointed to Jean. "Okay that's splitting hairs, or in her case an heir splitting…Well you get the idea. Let the ceremony begin!"

"By the fire within my heart I call on you, O sacred Flame…" Shaw intoned. "You who were born of creation's first light, through the darkness that you came…"

"Who wrote this? Dr. Seuss?" Pietro grumbled.

There was a commotion at the door. Some of the Hellfire Guards went to investigate only to be knocked aside as Destro and the Crimson Guard Twins burst in. "We've broken through first!" Destro crowed. "BATS! ATTACK!"

"And now the power will be mine!" Cobra Commander laughed. The Cobras and their BATS quickly knocked out the guards and then were forced to contend with the Hellfire Club themselves.

"I'm going to blast…" Pierce began to shout. Suddenly Destro pushed a button on his wristband and Pierce found his arm and leg malfunctioning. "What the…?"

"This Electronic Disablelizer is quite an ingenious invention if I do say so myself," Destro laughed. "It sends out a short range pulse that interferes with any technology, including cybernetics!"

"You're also shorting out the BATS Destro!" The Baroness snapped as the Kingpin clobbered a few.

"That's not supposed to happen!" Destro snapped. "What about the techno-stablizers that were supposed to be installed in them?"

"The what?" Xamot asked.

"The little green devices that look like spark plugs," Destrosnapped. "The ones you were supposed to install!"

"When was this?" Tomax yelled as a BAT exploded.

"When Cobra Commander ordered you to do so before the mission!" Destro snapped.

"No he didn't," The Crimson Twins said.

"Oops," Cobra Commander hit his head with his hand. "I knew there was something I forgot to do before we left!"

"Somebody please shoot me," Destro muttered. "Or better yet shoot him!"

"I am really beginning to hate Cobra!" The Kingpin shouted as a few BATS tackled him.

"Raise us oh Ancient…" Shaw intoned and then he saw what was going on. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU PEOPLE DOING?"

"Seizing the power of the Phoenix Force for myself!" Cobra Commander sneered as he grabbed for the crystal.

"No you idiot! You mustn't disturb the ceremony once it's begun!" Shaw raced to stop him.

"Don't tell me what to do!" Cobra Commander drew out his laser. "That crystal is mine!"

The X-Men and Misfits ran into the room and saw the situation. "I must be seeing things," Todd rubbed his eyes. "Cobra's helping us?"

"More like helping themselves," Lance told him.

"Give me that crystal!" Cobra Commander ordered.

"Get away from here you stupid…" Shaw tackled him. Cobra Commander accidentally fired his laser.

The laser beam hit the crystal dead on.

CRASH! SHATTER!

At that sound everyone stopped fighting instantly.

The crystal splintered into a thousand pieces. A huge ball of flame arose from the shards and it turned into the shape of a bird.

"Whoops…" Cobra Commander gulped. "That's not good is it?"

"YOU FOOL!" Shaw roared. "Without the crystal the entire Phoenix Force has nothing to contain it other than…" He saw that the strange flames were now entering Jean's body. "Oh sh….!"

**_"I am Phoenix…" _**Jean was consumed by the Phoenix fire which turned into a giant bird of flame. Pieces of furniture broke all around them. **_"AND I LIVE!" _**

"No…" Xavier gasped as he saw Apocalypse's visions had come true again.

"This is so not good," Kitty gulped.

"You **think?"** Emma snapped at her.


	97. Rage of the Phoenix

**Rage of the Phoenix**

"YOU IDIOT!" Shaw screamed at Cobra Commander. "LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE!"

"WELL HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW…" Cobra Commander shouted back. A large shriek interrupted him. He turned and saw the Phoenix change again. Soon there was Jean immersed in flame, floating above him. "Oh boy…"

"Jean…" Scott gasped.

"Cut 'em down!" Logan ordered as the X-Men and Misfits freed their friends. No one stopped them. The Hellfire Club and Cobra had much bigger problems.

_"Who **dares** destroy the M'Krann Crystal?"_ Jean spoke in a powerful voice. _"Who has upset the balance of what is?"_

Shaw gulped. "We were the ones who summoned you…"

_"You summoned me…"_ Jean glared at him, her eyes consumed by fire. _"In order_ _for me to serve **you?"**_

"Well…" Shaw began. "Not really..."

_"Don't bother lying to me!"_ Jean shouted. "_I can see your diseased thoughts as clear as day! You **dare **try to command the powers of a god as if they were **nothing? As if they were toys for you to play with?"**_

"Not exactly…" Shaw tried to cover, feeling afraid for the first time in a long while. "We want to serve you. For you to bring order to this chaotic world. We offer you…"

_"**You** offer **me?** Did you really think you could impress **me** by trying to destroy my host's **friends?"**_ Jean hissed. _"She and I are one now…Her pain is my pain…Her love is my love…and her **anger…"** _

"Uh, yeah I think we get that…" Cobra Commander wisely backed away. "You know what Shaw? You're right! Cobra doesn't really need this! The Phoenix Force belongs to you. So we'll just be going…"

_"The Phoenix Force belongs to no man!"_ Jean shouted. _"Least of all a wretch like_ _you!"_

"I think I must also be going now…" The Kingpin backed away. "I'm late for another appointment…"

"Yeah I've gotta see my manicurist," Steve gulped.

_"You who sell your own kind into **slavery…"**_ Jean roared. _"You believe you have the right to rule? YOU HAVE NO RIGHT AT ALL!" _

"Frost…." Shaw backed up. "Do something…" 

"Shaw you fool, she's too powerful!" Emma shouted. "The Phoenix Force has strengthened her mind by a thousand fold. I can't control her!"

_"You could never control me!"_ Jean snarled and sent a vicious psychic attack at her. Emma screamed and collapsed in a heap. _"Just as you imprisoned others in their minds, so shall **you **be imprisoned!" _

"Oh crap this is **not** good," Pierce gulped. "What do we do?"

"Well," Destro gulped. "When Cobra is faced with difficult tactical maneuvers such as this there is one strategy we employ…"

"And that is?" Kingpin asked.

"We run like hell as far away as possible," Destro explained.

"Works for me," Pierce said.

"EVERYBODY RUN!" Shaw shouted.

"COBRA RETREAT! RETREAT!" Cobra Commander was already running with the other Cobras. The door slammed shut before his face and he collided with the door. "Ow…"

_"You shall all **burn,"**_ Jean hissed. _"Burn with the judgement of the Phoenix!" _

"This was not one of our better plans," Destro gulped.

"YOU THINK?" Cobra Commander shouted at him.

"Please Phoenix!" Pierce screamed. "Show us mercy!"

_"Mercy? **Mercy?"**_ Jean was consumed by fire. The glow of the Phoenix surrounded her. _"Just as you planned to show them mercy? The same mercy you planned for the world you would gladly sacrifice in your pathetic bid for power and immortality?"_

"Uh, yes?" Pierce gulped. Jean responded with an inhuman scream of rage.

"Way to go Pierce you just ticked her off even more!" Mr. DaCosta snapped.

"WELL I DIDN'T SEE YOU COMING UP WITH ANY SOLUTIONS!" Pierce screamed hysterically.

"She's going to kill them!" Ororo gasped.

"And that's bad **why?"** Warpath grunted.

"We have to stop her!" Xavier shouted.

"Good luck," Pietro gulped as Jean powered up.

"Jean, Jean don't do this!" Scott pleaded.

_"These heretics must **pay!"**_ Jean raised her arm and fire started to blaze all around the room.

"Note to self," Pietro gulped. "Do **not **tick off Jean anymore!"

"Jean!" Xavier called out. "Don't do this! You know this is wrong! Fight it!"

_"Too late Charles,"_ Jean looked at him. _"For too long she has suffered at the hands of those who hate and abuse power. Her eyes have been opened to the evil and the cruelty of this world. As long as part of her wishes, you cannot stop me!" _

"We can try," Althea stood in front of her.

"Al…What are you doing?" Lance gulped.

"She's got a plan," Todd gulped. "I hope!" 

_"Remove yourself from my path or be destroyed,"_ Jean warned her.

"No," Althea said.

"We're all dead aren't we?" Pietro groaned.

"We will be if **you **don't shut up!" Wanda snapped.

"Jean," Althea looked straight at her. "You don't want to do this. Believe me. If anyone knows about what you're feeling right now it's me! You're probably reading my mind right now, so you know what I'm talking about."

_"Yes…"_ Jean's eyes narrowed. _"I see your past clearly. Although your powers are merely a fraction of mine…You do understand to a degree."_

"Don't go down that road Jean," Althea said. "You're not a killer. Don't make the same mistake I made."

_"The mistake was not yours to make," _Jean told her. _"You had no control over what you were doing then. I have control now."_

"All the more reason not to do this!" Althea shouted. "As much as I'd love to see these guys roasted alive, it shouldn't be done at **your **expense."

"Jean if you do this, you're no better than they are," Kurt called out. "Do you really want that? Do you want the stain of blood on your soul, even if that blood is not innocent? Don't give into your anger! It will destroy you!"

"Besides," Althea looked at her. "Do you really want to be anything like **me?"**

_"You have a point…"_ Jean smirked. _"AAGGH! XAVIER WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" _

"I'm sorry Jean but I have no choice," Xavier entered her mind.

_"Don't make me fight you Xavier!"_ Jean roared as she hovered in the air, clearly in agony. _"I want to use this power to benefit the world! Don't make my first act be the slaying of my beloved teacher and friends!" _

"That's not going to happen!" Xavier snarled. "Jean I know part of you is fighting this! I can feel it! Just keep fighting!"

"I can help," Betsy assisted. Soon the two of them were deep inside Jean's mind. It was a battlefield filled with fire and harsh red rocks. "The girl really needs to redecorate."

_"LEAVE…!" _A huge fire Phoenix flew over them. They were knocked to the ground by the heat and force of the flame wings.

"Okay why aren't we dead or knocked our or…?" Betsy gulped.

"Jean's subconscious mind," Xavier explained. "There's a part of her that's still with us."

"Is it too much to ask that it's a large part?" Betsy asked.

_"I am in control here!" _The Phoenix screamed.

"Jean I know you can hear me! Fight her!" Xavier shouted as he focused his telepathic powers. "Psylocke! Focus!"

"I'm trying!" Betsy told him as she created a large shield. "It's like fighting in an oven!"

"Jean! Help us!" Xavier called out. He was able to transform his clothes to the same armor as what he fought the Shadow King with. He slashed at the creature with his sword but no effect.

Back in the real world Scott called out to Jean. "Jean! Please! It's Scott! Can't you hear me?"

_Scott…_

Something happened in the psychic world. The ground shook within it as the figure of Jean was revealed deep inside the Phoenix. "Scott…" She cried out.

"Jean! We have to bind the Phoenix Force inside you!" Xavier called out. Suddenly the ground began to shift.

"Professor…" Betsy was getting very worried.

"Don't fight it Psylocke!" Xavier instructed. "Move with the ground! It's responding to our thoughts! Use it to entrap the Phoenix!"

"Just as long as **we** don't get trapped," Betsy gulped as she did as she was told. The ground within Jean's mind grew into a vortex, trapping the Phoenix's feet and tail.

**_"NO!" _**The Phoenix screamed as the ground swirled around and around, covering more and more of it.

"JEAN!" Scott reached out to her, feeling her pain through the psychic bond they shared.

Jean's eyes opened. They were glowing with fire. "Scott…"

Just then the entire building burst into a brilliant ball of flame. The flame turned into a phoenix and shrieked into the night.

At that very same moment all over the world…

"NO!" Deep in her lair, Selene shook with fear. "IT HAS RETURNED!"

"By the Great Ashanti…" Dr. Strange furrowed his brow as he meditated in his inner sanctum. He knew dark times were ahead.

Agatha Harkness watched the fire in her hearth burn brighter. A black cat yowled in horror. "I feel it too old friend…" She sighed. "The fire is coming."

Foresight screamed at the images as he lay in his bed. Scenes of a great bird of fire battling a powerful figure with dragon like wings. Destruction and devastation surrounded them. Joining the fight a brilliant figure of a female angel could be seen before everything was consumed with fire.

Deep in the burrows of the Arctic was a hidden city. "I sense such power…" A strange looking female with purple armor, bald except for a long flowing top knot of black hair looked at a crystal. Her reptilian eyes glowed. "Yes, I could use this. We will rise again and gain vengeance on the human race."

Far in another hidden catacomb three figures in the shadows were also aware of what transpired. "So the Phoenix Force has been unleashed?" One figure said. "Excellent. Everything is going according to plan. Now members of Factor Three, our real work is just beginning."

On the surface of the moon a lone figure, cloaked by technology witnesses the flames. "Once again I must watch as history repeats itself…" He spoke to no one in particular.

A billion light years away on a distant planet, an alien woman with white hair and a pink dress screams in agony. "I must warn the princess! The Phoenix has awakened!"

Destiny sat in her room at SHEILD. She knew what was going to happen. "It has begun…"


	98. Ashes to Ashes

**Ashes to Ashes**

Rubble was everywhere. Not a single brick of the Hellfire Headquarters was attached to anything. And yet with the destruction all around them, the Misfits, X-Men and anyone else left in the building miraculously survived.

"Professor…?" Jean said weakly.

"Jean are you alright?" Scott hugged her.

"I don't know…" Jean trembled. "It's contained but…I just don't know." Then she passed out.

"Jean!" Scott cried out.

"I can't believe we're alive…" Todd groaned as he looked at the debris all around them. "Anybody else not dead?"

"I think I am," Bobby coughed. "Alive that is."

"What happened to Cobra Commander and the Hellfire Club?" Kitty asked as she helped Lance phase out of some rubble.

"They must have fled while Xavier and Psylocke were trying to save Jean," Lance coughed.

"Professor?" Rogue made her way to Xavier and pulled some rubble off him. "Professor?"

"I'm fine…Somewhat," Xavier coughed. "I think Jean, Psylocke and I have managed to contain the Phoenix…for now."

"You **think?"** Lance asked holding his head. He looked around. "It looks like 911 all over again."

"Fortunately I think it's only this building that's turned to ashes," Althea sat up. "Jean! Is she…?"

"Unconscious but alive," Scott held her. "I think somehow her powers saved us all."

"That's good," Pietro groaned. "Ooh! Look at the pretty little fire birds flying around."

"We are not the only ones here," Peter picked up Emma's body. "She is breathing but not responding."

"She's in a coma," Ororo looked her over. She heard a vehicle approaching. "Now what?"

It was Evan and the other Hellions in a helicopter. Evan hopped out with an unconscious Sage in his arms. "How about a deal?" Evan called out. "Our teacher for your first student? Or are you willing to abandon her **again?"**

Xavier made a hard face. "Do it…"He ordered Peter. "Give her to them."

"Professor?" Scott asked.

"Why don't we just take 'em down?" Ray snarled.

"We can't risk hurting Sage," Warpath stopped him.

"Sage huh?" Lance asked. "Why do I have a feeling there's a long story behind this?"

Peter walked over carrying Emma. He glared at Evan who took her after putting Sage down. The sounds of sirens alerted them. "Nice doing business with you," Evan said as he left. Soon the chopper left and dozens of police cruisers were arriving.

"Tessa…" Logan was shocked.

"You **know** her?" Todd asked.

"Yeah," Logan sighed. "We do."

"She was my first student," Xavier told them.

"Your first…?" Kurt's jaw dropped.

"It's a long story," Remy sighed. "Is she going to be okay?"

"I don't know…" Xavier sighed. "I honestly don't know…"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The next evening…

"And once again we've made the Six O'clock news," Todd changed the channel. They were at the Xavier Institute recovering.

"I have to admit it's a nice change that **someone else's** house gets trashed for once," Bobby said as he watched the news with most of the Misfits and the X-Men.

Trish Tilby was on the scene. "It has now been confirmed that the Black Friar's Club, a place popular for retired bankers was now a front for the notorious Hellfire Club. The Hellfire Club has been rumored to have illegal ties to organized crime all over the world. During a confrontation with the mutant teams the X-Men and the Misfits…"

"Blah, blah, blah…" Todd groaned. He shouted at the TV. "We know all this!"

"How's Jean?" Ororo asked Hank as he walked in.

"Resting, along with Miss Sage," Hank explained. "Scott and Xavier are with them both. What did I miss?"

"Not much that you didn't already know about," Althea pointed. "But you did make it for Wilson Fisk weaseling out of this."

"I had no idea such nefarious things were going on," Kingpin told reporters. "I was merely investigating the Black Friar's Club to see if it would be interested in setting up a retirement program for some of my older employees. Where they could spend their golden years in comfort. This is most distressing…" He wiped his brow. "How could people take advantage of pensioners? Not to mention the city of New York? I feel so betrayed!"

"And the Oscar goes to…" Pietro mocked.

"And the worst part of it all is that I was held hostage by Cobra!" Kingpin threw up his hands. "Who were clearly in cahoots with these vile miscreants!"

"Sir, are you saying you were rescued by the X-Men and the Misfits?" Trish asked.

"Yes," Kingpin put on a brave face. "It appears that I, as well as the entire city of New York, no humanity owes them our lives! I mean this Bio-Pulse machine and Cobra? Just think of the horrors…No I don't want to think about it." He shuddered. "If it wasn't for the X-Men and Misfits, countless lives would have been lost!"

"Un-believable," Roberto's jaw dropped. "Un-Freaking-believable!"

"I thought I'd seen it all," Logan shook his head.

"This episode has clearly shown that not all mutants are monsters bent on world destruction," Kingpin was now really in his element. "If anything we must encourage those mutants who are willing to use their powers in order to benefit mankind! That is why I have decided…To start a non profit foundation of my own. An academy dedicated to helping young mutants achieve their potential and placing them in jobs suited for their many talents."

"What?" Wanda raised an eyebrow.

"Mutants need to be given positive direction in order to benefit society," Kingpin continued. He dragged Steve to the cameras. "Like this young man. Who was…Also a hostage of the Hellfire Club."

"Yeah! I was!" Steve nodded vigorously. He waved with two of his four hands. "Hi Mom!"

"I think young Steven here and other members of the mutant community need a chance. And I am going to give them that chance," Kingpin grinned. "I will personally oversee this project, placing many mutants in my employ!"

"Okay," Logan was shocked. "**Now** I've seen it all!"

"He did not just do what I think he did, did he?" Ray groaned.

"If you mean turn a disaster into a golden opportunity to recruit mutants and gain even more power," Hank sighed. "Yes he did."

"And I thought the Hellfire Club was slick," Shipwreck shook his head. "This guy makes them look like rank amateurs."

"Speaking of which how did the Hellions get away without being detected?" Fred asked. "The cops were literally right behind them!"

"Monet must have used her powers to psychically cloak them," Ororo explained.

"Not to mention the cops had all their attention on us," Lance groaned. "Not to mention SHIELD who arrived at the exact same time!"

"Good thing they **did** show up," Kitty groaned. "We were nearly arrested!"

"That was pretty smart of you Blob to grab the plans and that piece of the Bio Pulse," Logan admitted.

"You act like it's the only smart thing I ever did," Fred huffed.

"No comment," Rogue remarked.

"You think the Hellfire Club's finished?" Bobby asked.

"We hurt 'em bad," Logan grunted. "Trashed their inner sanctum and burned it right to the ground."

"That won't stop them from coming after us," Ororo told him.

"No, but maybe it'll make 'em think twice before they do," Logan grunted. "I could smell the fear on Shaw a mile away."

"Something tells me he'll manage to overcome it in the future," Spirit sighed.

"What I can't believe the Professor had a student before Scott and Jean and didn't tell anyone," Kitty shook her head. "I mean…The Professor having his own spy? It doesn't make any sense!"

"It makes perfect sense," Althea remarked. "I'd have been more surprised if he didn't have some spies working out in the field. Maybe Xavier isn't as naïve as I thought."

"Wait, you approve of stuff like this?" Kitty was shocked.

"Kitty for crying out loud look at where **I **came from," Althea rolled her eyes. "GI Joe wasn't always publicly known ya know?"

"And she's not the only one out there is she?" Scott asked. He had just entered the room and was looking at Logan. Obviously he had heard the tail end of the conversation.

"Sage was the only student that went out into the field…" Logan sighed. "But there are a couple more out there. Mostly contacts. Don't ask me who they are. Even I'm not sure of 'em all."

"But why wouldn't the Xavier tell us?" Scott asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Lance raised an eyebrow. "To keep you X-Men nice and clean."

"Well **that **plan backfired big time," Bobby grumbled. "Most people think we're only a step up from terrorists anyway."

"Yeah and tonight only confirmed it," Rogue groaned as she looked at the pictures of the smoldering building the Hellfire Club once considered their home.

The hall phone rang. "I'll get it," Warren sighed and went to answer it.

"Not everyone thinks that we are criminals after tonight," Hank corrected Rogue.

"Depends on which news station you watch," Roberto shrugged. "Or how many supporters the Kingpin has."

"Some week this has been," Bobby lay back on the couch. "Sentinels, Neverland, the Hellfire Club, Sinister, Cobra and the Phoenix force and it's only…Wednesday."

"For once I'm not looking forward to Friday," Lance remarked. "Who knows how many other nutcases it will turn out we're related to!"

"And I thought my father was the devil," Kurt sighed as he looked at Remy.

"How much do you know?" Remy groaned.

"Roberto and Xi told us pretty much everything while you were in the bathroom," Rogue said.

"Great!" Remy threw up his hands and looked at Scott. "And I suppose you want to say something about this?"

"To be honest I'm still trying to get my head around an all powerful cosmic force possessing my girlfriend and nearly killing us all," Scott groaned. "Give me a few days okay?"

"You still should have told us," Rogue sighed. "Or tell me at least! I mean look at who I'm related to over here!" She pointed to Pietro.

"And don't get me **started **on **my side **of the family," Kurt moaned.

"Well one good thing about hitting bottom," Remy groaned. "At least all this family stuff is out in the open. Can't get much more screwed up than this!"

Just then Warren walked in with a dark look on his face. "Warren? What's wrong?" Rogue asked.

"My father's dead…" Warren said in a shaky voice. "He had a heart attack when he saw me on the news…"


	99. Dust to Dust

**Dust To Dust**

"Remy always hated funerals," Remy grumbled under his breath.

"I ain't exactly crazy about churches either," Logan added.

"Hush now!" Rogue said. "We're here for Warren so keep it down!" In the back of the church were Rogue, Remy, Logan and Ororo. Warren sat with the rest of his family in the front of the church as the funeral went on.

"Too bad neither Xavier nor Cyclops are here," Remy grumbled.

"They are both tending to Jean and Sage back home," Rogue reminded him. "Now hush up!"

"Everybody's looking at us like we just set the casket on fire," Logan grunted.

"Why not?" Remy told him. "We just set a whole **building **on fire two days ago!"

"Remy…" Ororo sighed.

"He's got a point 'Ro," Logan told her. "What I can't believe is that Worthington's not hiding his wings."

Warren was sitting with his mother in the front of the church. His normally hidden wings were out for everyone to see. "Was that really a smart idea?" Rogue wondered aloud.

"Why not?" Remy asked. "Why should he be ashamed of what he is?"

"Yeah but I dunno if a funeral is the right time to make a Mutant Pride statement," Rogue told him.

"Considering where we are it's an appropriate time," Remy pointed out.

The service was soon over, but not before there were a lot of harsh scowls and dirty looks thrown their way. They followed to the family graveyard. After the burial service Warren brought his mother over to his friends.

"Mother, these are my friends and co workers from the Xavier Institute," Warren told her. Mrs. Worthington was a blonde older woman who looked quite frail.

"We're so sorry for your loss," Ororo said sympathetically.

"Funny, since you people were pretty much responsible for my brother's death," Burt stormed up and put his arm around his sister in law.

"Burt please…" Mrs. Worthington begged.

"Uncle Burt now isn't the time," Warren told him.

"I don't believe this," Burt sneered. "**You **lecturing **me** on how to behave! I knew you would show up and disrupt this funeral, but at least I thought you would have the decency to cover up those…**wings **of yours. Much less invite your freak friends!"

"At least I showed up which is more than I could say for your son!" Warren snapped.

"Buster couldn't make it," Burt bristled.

"Oh yeah that's right, he's scared of dead people," Warren said sarcastically. "Among other things!"

"He is not afraid of dead people," Burt snapped. "You know perfectly well that when he was young, Buster had a traumatic experience in a graveyard! He was nearly buried alive!"

"Under a pile of Styrofoam!" Warren said. "It wasn't even a real graveyard! It was a fake one the school made up for Halloween!"

"It was very realistic and he was at a very impressionable age," Burt told him.

"He was a senior in High School!" Warren exclaimed.

"This isn't about my son, it's about how lousy a son **you've** been!" Burt told him. "For once in your life think about this family and the company!"

"Once? All I have ever done is put this family first!" Warren retorted.

"Is that what you were doing flying around playing superhero?" Burt yelled.

"You have no idea…" Warren began.

"You killed your father just as if you put a bullet in his heart," Burt hissed.

"Burt, please!" Mrs. Worthington pleaded.

"It's the truth! Everyone knows it!" Burt shouted. "Your father worried about you every single minute and it ruined him! Look at your mother! This hasn't exactly been easy for her either!"

"Burt…" Mrs. Worthington shook her head weakly.

"Have you ever even thought for a second how all **this** makes her feel?" Burt pointed. "It's not just the press but the worry and the fear about you that's ruining her health the same way it killed your father!"

"Will you stop shouting!" An older man with glasses in a suit stormed up to them. "You know Mrs. Worthington is in no condition for this!"

"Dr. Lambert, please…" Mrs. Worthington waved. "I'm fine."

"You are not fine! Your health has been in serious decline before your husband's death!" Dr. Lambert told her.

"Is that true?" Warren looked at his mother. "Why didn't you tell me about this?"

"And when would she do that? You're never home!" Burt shouted. "Which come to think about it isn't such a bad idea!"

"Please…Burt! Warren…I…" Mrs. Worthington looked faint. "I need to lie down."

"Come with me my dear," Dr. Lambert said comfortingly to her. He glared at both men. "I thought the two of you knew better than this. Especially you Burt!" He took her away.

"See what you've done?" Burt whirled on Warren when she left. "See what your selfishness has cost her?"

"With all due respect, Warren…" Ororo began.

"Miss with all due respect, this is a **family **affair," Burt glared at her. "You may be his friends but you are not family. And as far as I'm concerned neither are you Warren! Do us all a favor and stay the hell away from us! We're all better off without you!" He stormed off. Warren looked hurt and flew off in the opposite direction.

"Warren…" Ororo began to fly after him.

Logan grabbed onto her before she could fly away. "Let him go Ororo, kid needs time to think."

"Man that was rough…" Rogue shuddered.

"Makes my family back in New Orleans seem downright civil," Remy glared at Burt. "Even Thieves treat family better than that."

"I've seen cage matches with less blood," Logan agreed.

Warren flew around to clear his head then back to the family mansion to retrieve his things. He had intended to stay a few days but decided that it was out of the question. He wouldn't have been welcomed. He went into his room via the window and started to pack before the rest of the family returned. He could hear some people come in downstairs. There had been a brunch planned at the home after the funeral. He decided it was best to leave quietly while the others were eating. It took him only a few minutes to get his things and just as he closed up his suitcase, a voice stopped him.

"You're not leaving already are you?"

Warren turned to look at who spoke to him. It was an attractive woman in black with short blonde hair. "I mean I know I'm not really family or anything but still it might be worth to hang around for a bit."

"Do I know you?" Warren asked.

"Only for about four years in high school," She gave him a look. "I mean I knew most people would rather forget about those years but really…"

"Candy?" Warren asked. "Candy Southern? Is that you? You're…?"

"Blonde? And short? Yeah you know me," She ran her hand through her hair. "Career move. It's for a film I'm doing."

"That's right you're an actress," Warren remembered.

"Not a very well known one, but enough to pay the bills," Candy smirked. "I'm sorry about your father."

"Yeah well…" Warren sighed as he leaned back.

"Looks like I'm not the only one who's changed," Candy pointed to the wings. "So when did you…?"

"I had 'em since Sophomore year," Warren sighed. "Let's just say the coach owed my family some favors."

"So **that's** how you got out of gym class," Candy snapped her fingers. "I should have known."

"You're not…?" Warren was hesitant.

"Freaked out by a pair of wings? Hell no," Cindy shook her head. "You should have seen my last movie. Headbanging Zombie Queens. I was one of the Zombie Queens."

"I think I saw that," Warren thought. "Or part of it, one of the kids back at the Institute was watching it. Wait, were you the green one that bit that guy's…"

"Yes," Cindy admitted. "That was me. Although truth be told from what I've heard from the co-star who dated him, that was an unnecessary move."

"I thought you looked familiar," Warren remembered. "So you're an actress?"

"Yes, we've established that," Candy grinned. "And you are…"

"A complete and total failure," Warren groaned.

"Okay…" Candy blinked. "I know I'm a bit slow on the uptake but…You're a millionaire mutant super hero. How exactly is **that **a failure?"

"I should have been home," Warren said. "If I had been there instead of running around playing super hero, maybe my father would still be alive."

"From what I've heard trying to save the world all the time is a pretty demanding job," Candy pointed out. "And your Dad's always been strong as an ox. There was no way you could have known this was going to happen."

"But his health was failing," Warren told her. "I should have…"

"From what I've been hearing in the papers this time when you blew up a building it was for a good cause," Candy told him. "Otherwise there would have been Stryker Sunday Two the Sequel."

"How did you know about that?" Warren asked.

"It's been in the news since this whole thing began," Candy told him. "There was a huge press release from Valerie Cooper explaining it all. You didn't hear about…? Oh wait, of course you didn't. How stupid of me. I mean with your father dead and everything…"

"No, no, it's not your fault. But thanks for telling me. At least some good came out of that crazy night."

"I get the feeling that it was a lot crazier than the press let on."

"You're right, it was."

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Not right now," Warren sighed.

"Well if you ever do feel like talking about it," Candy slipped him a card. "Here's my number. We can chat and complain about how lousy our lives are."

"I'd like that," Warren said. Just then Warren felt better than he had been in days. And he knew it had a lot to do with Candy.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Back at the mansion Xavier was visiting Sage in the infirmary. "Are you feeling any better?" He asked.

"Satisfactory," Sage sighed as she lay back on the bed.

"Tessa…" Xavier's eyes were downcast. "I never stopped looking for you."

"I know," Sage told him. "Sometimes Shaw would brag about how close you came to finding me but his cloaking technology…He developed it with Magneto you know?"

"It's still my fault," Xavier said. "All those years…Everything you went through. If I hadn't asked you to spy on the Hellfire club…"

"Perhaps…" Sage nodded. "But I must take responsibility for my actions as well. I thought I knew the risks back then and was willing to make the sacrifice. I was arrogant. I thought I couldn't be caught. I was wrong. It seems we are both responsible for the choices we have made. There is no point in recriminations. What matters now is what we do with our lives. What you are doing Charles…You're doing what you can to make sure mutants are not enslaved or exterminated. Or that humans do not meet with the same fate. That humans and mutants can live in peace. It is a dream worth fighting for. Even if you are sometimes narrow minded about how to go about it."

"You always were more perceptive than I was, with or without telepathy," Xavier managed a wry smile. "What about you? What do you want to do with your life now that you are free from the Hellfire Club?"

"To be honest, I haven't thought about it yet," Sage said. "I need…time to analyze my situation and figure out what I really want and how best to use the skills I've learned over the years."

"Tessa…If you need anything…Anything at all…"

"You have enough problems with Jean," Sage told him. "She needs your full attention what with that power of hers. Muir Island is a better place for me to recover, for now."

"I feel like I'm doing this again to you," Xavier hung his head. "Pushing you to the side…Trying to go on without you…"

"You had to do that Xavier," Sage explained. "You would not have been able to create the Institute if you didn't. Just as I had to forget about you in order to survive. To be honest it was not all…Unpleasant. In many ways Shaw was…kinder to me than you believe he was. Compared to some of the other members of the Hellfire Club he ousted."

"You always were a very understanding person Tessa."

"That's the essence of logic, to understand," Sage told him. "At the very least my time in the Hellfire Club was not wasted. I know exactly all the locations where the Hellfire Club has hidden evidence. Hopefully they haven't destroyed or moved them all yet."

"We did manage to show the authorities evidence that the Bio Pulse was being manufactured by the Hellfire Club," Xavier told her. "That's put a huge dent in their operations. They're already started an investigation into the Inner Circle's holdings, including the Massachusetts Academy."

"Funny thing about that," Nick Fury walked into the room. "As soon as the FBI showed up with a warrant, the school was already closed down."

"What?" Xavier asked.

"The Hellions and their friends all packed up and fled in a hurry," Fury grumbled. "And all the other students are hiding or conveniently on a field trip to Switzerland. They're probably lying low until their lawyers manage to get 'em out of it. All except for your friend Warpath. He's talking, but he doesn't know nearly enough as we hoped."

"You're not going to arrest him are you?" Xavier asked.

"You mean for his involvement in those tussles with the FOH?" Fury asked. "We had our own psychic check him out. He never killed anyone but technically he's still an accomplice to those FOH the Hellions wiped out. Then again the FOH isn't exactly on SHIELD'S nice list so we're willing to call it even. Besides he turned against the Hellions when the chips were down, that still means something in my book."

"By psychic you mean Karma?" Sage asked.

"That's her," Fury shrugged. "We put her in X-Factor to make sure things didn't get out of control. Anyway he's pretty much free to go now that we've got his statement. We made a deal. He's told us everything he knows and quite frankly it wasn't much, but enough to keep him out of a detention facility. "

"Not as much as what I know," Sage said.

"You do have all the information on Shaw and the rest of the Hellfire Club we really need," Fury admitted. "You were there in the middle of everything for years. Warpath's small potatoes. Besides it's not like we won't be able to find him if we need him. So I'm afraid SHEILD will be escorting you to Muir Island and keeping an eye on you there."

"It's quite logical," Sage told him. "I understand."

"Pretty sloppy of Daniels to drop the ball like that," Fury nodded.

"He was trying to rescue his teacher," Xavier pointed out.

"From what you've described sounds like she'll be in a coma a long time," Fury pointed out. "The Inner Circle won't be too happy about that. This is the break we've been waiting years for. It's just a matter of finding them. I hate to say this Xavier but it looks like you won't be able to get Daniels out of this one. He's in it up to his neck."

"I know…" Xavier sighed.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Back at Misfit Manor…

"Xi are you okay?" Todd asked. Althea was with him. Xi was looking outside the window.

"Physically I am fine," Xi told them.

"But your insides ain't doing so good," Todd caught on. "It's about your brother ain't it?"

"I thought One…Solitaire was lost forever," Xi sighed. "And then just as I found him…I lost him again. I don't know where he is or even if he is alive."

"I'm sorry Xi," Althea sighed as she put her arm around him.

Xi looked at them. "Am I a traitor?"

"What? Xi how can you even ask that?" Todd was shocked. "You're the most loyal guy I know!"

"Solitaire said I was a traitor," Xi told them. "After everything we went through with Cobra and…"

"Xi no, that's not how it is," Althea stopped him. "You were willing to give humans a second chance. That's how it is. I can see Solitaire's point but you're not…"

"What Al's saying is that there's a lot of gray area about this you know?" Todd interrupted. "Not all humans are bad just like not all mutants are good. We know that now."

"I know…" Xi sighed. "I just wish I knew where he went."


	100. A Spark Amidst the Ashes

**A Spark Amidst the Ashes**

"You have made a wise decision, Solitaire," Magneto said as he entered his war room with his newest recruit. Solitaire was now dressed in a black uniform with red markings. His long hair had been cut and braided into a topknot. A large sword was by his side.

"I can no longer allow any mutant to be abused by humanity," Solitaire told him. "I will do what I must to save them."

"Unlike your brother," Magneto shook his head. "Forgive me for not knowing the correct terminology for your gender or lack thereof. Is Xi your 'brother' or…?"

"Not any more," Solitaire narrowed his eyes.

"I understand," Magneto nodded.

Lorna, Cortez, Mender, Sabertooth and Amelia Voight were in the room as well. "I see we have a new recruit," Amelia said.

"This is Solitaire," Magneto introduced. "My new personal bodyguard."

**"Bodyguard?"** Cortez nearly spat out his drink. "What about me?"

"What **about** you?" Amelia looked at him. "Everyone here knows what a coward you are!"

"Actually Solitaire will be more like dispatcher who will take care of some of our human enemies," Magneto explained.

"So he's more like an assassin?" Lorna was confused.

"It is what I was created for," Solitaire explained.

"Solitaire came from the same Cobra program to create the ultimate assassin squad as our friend Xi of the Misfits," Magneto explained. "In addition to his fighting skills he also has the powers of invisibility, reading genetic codes by touch and the ability to create short range spacial distortion fields."

"Huh?" Cortez narrowed his eyes.

"He can make mini black holes to tear things up," Mender explained.

"Oh," Cortez realized. "But he's not really a 'he' is he? In fact, that thing wasn't really born, it was created in a lab! Why on earth would you even consider…"

Before Cortez could finish he was viciously backhanded by Solitaire and knocked to the ground. Cortez then found himself on the wrong end of a very sharp, very pointy sword. "Are you **questioning **Magneto's decision?" Solitaire hissed.

"N-No…" Cortez gulped nervously. "I would never dream of…Let me rephrase the question…Why **wouldn't** Lord Magneto consider one such as you to join our ranks?"

"I'm liking this guy already," Sabertooth chuckled.

"God you fold faster than one of those bloody Yugi-Oh players," Lucas strode into the room. "Personally I've got no problem with this. 'Bout time somebody with balls joined this team. Uh, no offense." He apologized to Solitaire.

"Let's just say that I can trust Solitaire with my daughter a lot more than with **you!"** Magneto snapped. With a dismissive wave of his hand Magneto motioned for Solitaire to let Cortez go. "Now I take it everyone has heard about the debacle at the Hellfire Club?"

"All over the underworld channels," Lucas snorted. "Boy those idiots at Cobra really screwed up big time."

"What a surprise," Solitaire said sarcastically as he folded his arms.

"I still feel bad for them. The Hellfire Club I mean. Even if they were our rivals, they were also fellow mutants," Lorna told them.

"What's with this 'were' crap?" Sabertooth grunted. "It's not like they're dead or anything!"

"Cockroaches are easier to kill," Magneto agreed. "However the fact remains their Bio-Pulse has been rendered inoperable. Which means ours is the only one remaining."

"So why do we not use it?" Cortez asked. "We know it works! We could use the extra mutants! Why do we wait?"

"Patience, Cortez," Magneto told him. "The time for us to establish our dominance over the Earth has not come yet. We are not strong enough. Although our numbers are growing, the humans are still far too numerous and more powerful than you think."

"If you use the Bio Pulse my lord…." Cortez began.

"When and where I choose to use the Bio Pulse it will be when it is most advantageous to us, **understand?"** Magneto glared at him.

"As you wish my lord," Cortez folded gracefully.

"Magneto is merely using caution. We cannot afford any mistakes. If you wish for test subjects I can acquire them," Solitaire told Magneto. "My powers can determine if a human has a dormant X-Gene."

"Cough! Kissass! Cough!" Cortez grunted, pretending to cough. Everyone glared at him. "Oh like we weren't **all **thinking it!"

"Jealous much?" Sabertooth sneered.

"That's precisely why I called Solitaire to this meeting," Magneto said. "I'm sure Sabertooth can assist you."

"Why would I wanna do that?" Sabertooth grunted.

"So you can kill those who fail the test," Solitaire explained.

"'Taire, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship," Sabertooth grinned.

"Our time will come," Magneto smiled. "Soon the mutant race will take its rightful position as Masters of the Earth. I shall see to that personally. And heaven help the fools, be they human or mutant that stand in my way."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"You are an idiot," Pierce sneered at Evan. What was left of the Inner Circle and the Hellions were in an extravagant chalet somewhere in Switzerland. "How could you just hand over Sage like that?"

"They had Ms. Frost! I couldn't just leave her behind!" Evan defended.

"She's in a coma! She's a vegetable! She's useless to us!" Pierce snapped.

"But not to Xavier who could have simply entered her mind and taken what information he needed," Shaw told him as he stared at his glass of port. "And even with all Sage knows, Emma knows even more. It was a lose-lose situation. Daniels just made sure we didn't lose anymore than we had."

"We wouldn't have lost **anything** if you'd let us stay and protect you!" Yvonne snarled.

"Yeah at the very least we would have kept those Cobra chumps from wrecking the whole ceremony!" Bevatron agreed.

"The lad has a point," Leland admitted. "As much as I'd love to blame the X-Men and the Misfits, the real culprits for this whole fiasco are Cobra and **you**, Shaw!"

"ME?" Shaw snapped throwing his glass into the fireplace. "How the devil was I supposed to know Cobra would show up? Or that DaCosta's son's friends would…"

"Don't blame **your** failures on **my son!"** Mr. DaCosta snapped.

"Why not? He was fighting against us!" Shaw snapped.

"He was tied up and you know it," Mr. DaCosta told him. "I had him under control!"

"**You **had him under control?" Pierce glared at him. "Frost and I captured them! You did **nothing **as usual!"

"I didn't screw the ceremony up!" DaCosta snarled.

"That's right, Shaw did," Pierce thought. "Technically."

"It's not like I just let Cobra and those other fools waltz in there you know?" Shaw snarled. "I don't even know how they found us in the first place!"

"How much you wanna bet Selene told them where we were?" Monet grumbled.

"Who, Cobra?" Beef asked.

"No you idiot! The X-Men and Misfits!" Monet snapped.

"Obviously!" Pierce snapped. "That's another loose end you failed to take care of!"

"And how exactly do you propose to destroy a centuries old witch like her without her cursing us to the end of time?" Shaw snapped.

"Well it couldn't have been any worse than what happened to us the other **night!"** Pierce snarled. "Our headquarters is destroyed, the Massachusetts Academy is closed down, half of our assets are frozen and we are stuck here in this godforsaken wilderness!"

"We're hardly roughing it by any stretch of the imagination," Leland snorted as he poured himself some brandy.

"The point is that the Hellfire Club was nearly destroyed!" Pierce shouted.

"But we **weren't **destroyed!" Shaw snapped. "And we're not! Not by a longshot! True, this is a temporary setback…We just have to lie low for a while until our lawyers can find a way out of this mess."

"Isn't that what Martha Stewart said?" Beef asked.

"Mark my words, the Hellfire Club will rise again," Shaw told them, the flames of the fire lighting his face. "And when we do we will burn all that stands in our path. From Cobra to the X-Men! **All **of them!"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Kincaid you are so damn lucky that we decided not to throw you to the wolves it's scary," Gyrich snarled at the General. "And I don't just mean the media. I mean real wolves! To gnaw on what's left of your body!"

"As I have explained eight times, the Sentinel malfunction was **not **my fault," Kincaid told him. "Turns out one of my scientists was a mutant himself. He must have sabotaged the project."

"For once Gyrich is right about something," Eddington said, carefully folding his fingers. "You were lucky. Lucky that the Misfits managed to uncover evidence of the Hellfire Club being involved in Project Neverland and nothing about us."

"Perhaps I was a bit…overzealous," Kincaid coughed. "But I was ordered by you to capture those mutants by any means necessary."

"Capture, not kill…" Eddington warned. "Mutants are a resource, Kincaid. I'm a bit…disturbed at the fact that you allowed so many to die. At least before we could find out what many of them could do. In the future I want you to take more precautions handling your test subjects. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir," Kincaid nodded, properly chastened. "I allowed my personal bias against mutants to interfere with my work. It will not happen again."

"See that it doesn't," Eddington warned. "From now on you will be working with Mr. Gyrich here on Project Wideawake. I expect the two of you to cooperate."

"Understood," Kincaid nodded again and saluted. "If you will excuse me gentlemen I have to tie up a few loose ends."

"See that you do," Gyrich told him. "The last thing we need is another fiasco involving the Sentinels and the Media! If there are you're a dead man, got it?"

"I assure you Mr. Gyrich, there will be no further problems," Kincaid told him. He left the conference room and headed towards his car.

In the shadows where he was sure no one would see, 'Kincaid' morphed into Mystique. "This is going to be too easy," She grinned. "I wonder if I should have told Gyrich that the good general is **already** dead? Oh well…He'll find out soon enough."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Well I guess I'd better be going," Warpath sighed. He had on a red turtleneck and jeans with a jean jacket. He had a large duffel bag with him. Xavier, Rogue, Dead Girl and Scott were there at the door of the Institute to see him off.

"So where will you go?" Rogue asked.

"I need to do a lot of thinking," Warpath told them. "About my brother, what I've done…Lots of things. Maybe someday I'll come back but right now…I've always wanted to travel around the country. Right now seems like a good time to do it."

"You're always welcome to stay with us," Xavier told them.

"Your brother would like that," Dead Girl told him. "Trust me."

"I know," Warpath sighed. "But right now…I just need some time off. See ya." He walked out the door and got on his motorcycle. He drove off into the afternoon sunset.

_"He'll be back," _John Proudstar's spirit spoke to Dead Girl. _"I know my brother. He'll be back when he's ready." _

"Just like you," Dead Girl said.

"Like me what?" Scott asked.

Obviously the others hadn't heard this exchange. "Nothing. Just thinking aloud. Gonna go listen to some Jim Morrison."

"You have a Jim Morrison CD?" Rogue asked.

"No, I'm really gonna go talk to Jim Morrison," Dead Girl explained. "We met up in the afterlife. He's pretty cool. He shows up every now and then to ask me advice about relationships. See ya." She walked off.

"She's kidding right?" Scott asked.

"I hope so," Rogue blinked. "Our lives are weird enough as it is without Jim Morrison's ghost wandering around."

"I think I'm going to go talk to Jean," Scott said and walked off to the Infirmary. He got the surprise of his life when he got down there. "What are you two **doing?"**

Althea and Jean were sitting there laughing their heads off. "What?" Althea asked him. "Can't two friends just sit down and chat?"

"Since when are you two **friends?"** Scott blinked. "Did I miss something here?"

"Let's just say we have a lot in common now," Jean shrugged. "And leave it at that."

"Frightening as it is, it's true," Althea quipped.

Scott just stood there with his mouth open. "He's in shock," Jean grinned at Althea.

"Told you," Althea grinned back.

"Well who wouldn't be in shock when Hell freezes over?" Scott told them.

"I'll see ya later," Althea got up and left the room. "You know how it is, so much of my Toddles to kiss and so little time to do it."

"Okay now **that's** a disturbing image that won't come out of my head," Scott groaned. He sat down and took Jean's hand. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," Jean admitted. "So what did I miss? Althea told me about Proudstar and Sage. What about Neverland and those mutants that escaped from it?"

"The official line from the government is that Neverland was a rogue agency," Scott told her. "Especially since it was on Canadian soil. So Canada denied any knowledge of it. But of course it's being covered up so that the media will never know what happened there. Like it never existed."

"Like those poor mutants who died there," Jean sighed. "And those that escaped are hiding so there are no witnesses."

"I know," Scott told her. "It stinks but at least one good thing came out of this fiasco. The government and SHEILD now have evidence of the Hellfire Club's involvement. Sage and Warpath gave them a whole lot to work on. They may be able to hide the evidence from the press, but SHEILD isn't taking any chances. They're trying to track them down but no sign of 'em. Even the Massachusetts Academy is gone."

"Gone? You mean the Massachusetts Academy is closed down?" Jean asked.

"Yeah but don't count either the Hellions or the Hellfire Club out just yet," Scott told her. "They've probably fled to one of their other holes to hide in."

"Still having a mutant school being closed down…Even if it is the Massachusetts Academy…" Jean shuddered. "Hits a little too close to home."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Scott asked.

"I'm fine," Jean hugged him. "I think I'm through the worst of it. But you seem to be a little bit in shock."

"That obvious?"

Jean tapped her head. "Psychic link. Even when the Phoenix possessed me I could still hear you. But it's more than that that's bothering you isn't it?"

"No, I know this shouldn't get me but it does. It really bothers me is that all this time I thought we were the Professor's first students and it turns out we weren't," Scott sighed. "I mean what if Sage wasn't the only one the Professor taught? How many more mutants are there that the Professor has contacts with that we don't know about?"

"There's a **lot** the Professor hasn't told us," Jean sighed. "And I'm wondering if he really believes it's for our own good or his."

"His?"

"When I was…Not myself, the Phoenix managed to open parts of the Professor's mind. I don't remember exactly what I saw, but I do know there's something else about Xavier's past he's hiding," Jean sighed. "Guilt…That's what I sensed. A terrible sense of guilt. He's keeping something else from us…Or one of us. But I don't know what."

"Maybe he has a reason?" Scott shrugged. "I mean we all have stuff in our pasts we'd rather forget. I mean if I was tortured like Gambit and sold off by my own father I know I'd try to block out that memory!"

"And he's still out there," Jean sighed. "It seems like that madman has ties to nearly every maniac and evil organization we've run up against. Who knows what else he's done over years?"

"We'll get him, Jean," Scott hugged her. "I promise. One of these days Sinister will get the justice he deserves."

"I just hope that day isn't too late for us," Jean sighed.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"So do you wanna fill in the blanks about this whole Sage thing for me?" Roadblock asked Xavier as they sat in the library drinking some tea.

Xavier put down his cup and sighed. "Not long after I recruited Storm and Wolverine to my cause, we met a young woman named Tessa. She had extraordinary telepathic abilities as well as the ability to analyze and store data in her mind like a computer. I trained her in secret because at that time the Hellfire Club was trying to manipulate my two agents and me. She volunteered to spy on the club in secret. Despite my reservations, I agreed."

"Long story short she got caught," Roadblock interrupted. "The Hellfire Club wasn't as dumb as you thought."

"I looked for her for years," Xavier sighed. "But they had hidden her beyond Cerebro's capabilities."

"And it turned out she was still fooling them," Roadblock said.

"I almost never created the X-Men due to that incident," Xavier sighed. "It was only because of Magneto's increasing presence I forced myself to put that plan in motion."

"And you feel guilty for abandoning her," Roadblock added.

"Magneto was right about one thing, this is a war," Xavier sighed. "And we've had more than enough casualties. How many more will there be?"

"What about this Phoenix Force Jean has in her?" Roadblock asked.

"It's contained, for now at the very least," Xavier told him. "It came much faster than I thought. I thought we had three years to prepare when in reality we barely had more than one. Jean's training must continue at higher levels. I only hope she can handle it, for all our sakes."

"You know something," Roadblock thought. "This whole thing may have been a mess, but it did teach our two teams something about togetherness."

"I think you're right Roadblock," Xavier admitted. "When the chips were down, both Misfits and X-Men were able to put aside their differences."

"YOU GET THE HELL OUTTA MY FACE YOU OVERGROWN SNOWBALL!" They heard Shane shouting outside. The sound of energy bullets could be heard.

"Do you want to take a look outside?" Roadblock asked. "Or should we pretend it didn't happen and hide?"

"Might as well see what the trouble is," Xavier sighed as he rubbed his head. They opened the window and looked out. Several X-Men and Misfits were on the lawn doing what they did best. Fighting.

"We broke up you idiot!" Jubilee snapped at Bobby as she threw several firecrackers at him. Then she turned on Shane. "And you! I can fight my own battles!"

"OW! OW! OW!" Shane ran from Jubilee. Bobby was right behind him as they both fled from her wrath.

"You're not good enough for her!" Bobby shouted. "And if you think I'm just going to let you use her, you've got another think coming!"

"At least I'm not stupid enough to play pranks on her and drive her away in the first place!" Shane shouted back. "OW! GIRL THAT HURTS!"

"Great!" Tabitha groaned. "Just what we need! A **new** love triangle around here!"

"Well the old one was getting pretty stale," Wanda admitted. Suddenly the ground shook. "Then again…"

Kitty was chasing after both Lance and Peter who were fighting each other. "Boys! Stop it! Stop it!"

"I'll stop it when this jerk knows when to quit!" Peter snapped.

"I KNEW IT!" Lance shouted. "I KNEW YOU WERE STILL AFTER KITTY!"

"Great, Lance is too stupid to realize that Kitty's the one who wants to break up with him!" Pietro threw up his hands. "And Kitty's too gutless to do so! SHE'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU LANCE! FORGET ABOUT HER!"

"Great…" Rogue moaned. "**Two** love triangles going on at the same time!"

"HELP ME!" A herd of Jamies ran by screaming. Trinity and Spyder were chasing them. "SOMEBODY HELP ME!"

"COME ON STORMY! YOU KNOW YOU LOVE MY HOT BODY!" Shipwreck ran from Ororo. "YOU TOLD ME SO YOURSELF THAT NIGHT WE…"

"SHUT UP SHIPWRECK! JUST SHUT UP AND DIE!" Ororo screamed. Thunder roared and lightning crackled in the sky. "AS GOD IS MY WITNESS I WILL NEVER DRINK AGAIN!"

"Well…The X-Men and Misfits **can** put together our differences," Xavier cringed. "We know that…We've just seen that."

"So why can't they do that the **rest **of the time?" Roadblock sighed. "Would that really be such a crime?"

"They're at it again," Scott sighed as he wheeled Jean out in a wheelchair to view the madness.

"Now I **know **things are back to normal," Jean smirked.

"YOU WANNA FIGHT? BRING IT ON!" Shooter was shooting his energy bullets at Bobby now and he was firing back with ice blasts.

"MY CAR!" Scott screamed as his car got caught in the crossfire. "YOU MANIACS GET AWAY FROM MY CAR!"

"Things are definitely back to normal around here," Roadblock groaned. "I think it's time to go take a sip of beer."

"Yes, perhaps the worst truly has passed…" Xavier sighed. "Except for our property values."

Unseen by the others, Jean's eyes flashed bright red for a second. The shape of a phoenix could be seen in her pupils. Then just as quickly it disappeared, like a creature waiting for its time to emerge.

And that time would be very soon.

**Yup, I'm done! Another monster fic! Phew! **

**YAYYYY! Time to do the Happy Dance! Thanks Everyone! I couldn't have done it without your support! And now here are the characters that are mine:**

**Althea 'Wavedancer' Delgado**

**Trinity (Daria, Quinn and Brittany Delgado)**

**Claudius Delgado (Little C)**

**Xi**

**Lina 'Dragonfly' Chakram**

**General Eddington**

**General Whithalf**

**Glory**

**Solitaire **

**Patch**

**Broadband**

**Lisa Lizer**

**Mender**

**Winters (Magneto's butler)**

**Yvonne 'Celandie' Bloom Frost (Technically she's semi-original since she was only mentioned in the limited Emma Frost comic and had no personailty or known mutant powers. It's my demented take on this.) **

**Let's just say there are plenty of unresolved story plots to use in other fics, including the final acts of the whole Lance/Kitty/Peter love triangle! Yes I know I keep dragging it out but no matter which way I go somebody's not gonna be happy with it, so I might as well just please myself! So until next time, have fun! **


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